"You have detention?" asked Jason incredulously. "Already? How the hell did you manage that?"

Richie flipped the dial on the lock and yanked his locker door open. He turned his head and gave Jason a smirk. "I'm just the da man, that's all there is."

Jason rolled his eyes. "You sound like you're proud of that."

"Well, if saggy-seeger was right, then I broke the old record."

"Seems to me you set the old record as well."

Richie gave Jason a cheesy grin. "Then I am still da champ. No one will unseat me! I am undefeated! I am the detention superstar of Haven!"

Jason shook his head. "I give up."

"Good. Gettin' tired of you trying to make me into a better person, or whatever the fuck it was you were doin'. Just leave it be, 'kay?"

"So how'd you get into detention, anyway? Wait, you didn't finish an assignment, right?"

"Boy, nothin' gets past you, genius," Richie said with a smirk. He shoved his books unceremoniously into the locker in no particular rhyme or reason. With all the other junk he had in there, this meant a lot of shoving and grunting to get the door closed again.

"So are you coming to lunch?" asked Jason. "Or do you need to maybe actually stack those neatly so you can close your locker before it's time for you to graduate?"

"Oh, listen to the funny man here. No improving me means no comments on my locker either, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Jason said with a mock salute. "Well, I want to get going, I'll just meet you there."

Richie uttered a curse and slammed his locker door as hard as he could. It just bounced back, now with a new dent dimpling it from the inside. "Uh, yeah, I'll be another minute."

Richie waited until Jason was a fair distance away from him. He then opened the locker door wide and began to rearrange the books exactly as Jason had suggested.

"Hello, Richie."

Richie was so surprised to hear a voice with such a husky cadence to it that he took a moment to lift his head and look. He was even more surprised to see Cassie Kendall standing there.

Cassie gave him a sultry smile.

"Oh, it's you," Richie started with a small sigh. "I thought after the other day you'd never want to ... uh ..."

His eyes widened and his heart leapt into his throat.

Faint, twisty tendrils of black swirled around Cassie's frame. They hovered lightly over her body, around her shoulders and arms and down her back, writhing and snaking around her waist and bodice, then down her hips and around her legs. It was as if she were wearing a gown woven from darkness.

Richie's eyes darted around her body, as if still trying to convince him that they were indeed seeing what he was perceiving in his mind.

"Richie," Cassie said softly.

"Huh?" His eyes snapped up to hers and were transfixed.

Cassie's eyes seemed to have new life to them. They glistened with renewed vitality and smoldered with a faint touch of desire. Her lips even appeared more full and red that he remembered them. She had a few of the top buttons of her blouse undone, drawing attention to the faint cleft between her petite mounds.

Richie blinked a few times. Suddenly the aura around her was barely there. He could see only occasional wisps of it. He was not sure he was really seeing it anymore. He relaxed somewhat.

"I want to apologize to you, Richie," Cassie said.

"Huh? Apologize ... for what?"

"For the way I yelled at you in the hall the other day." She took a step closer to him. "That was very ... naughty ... of me."

Richie felt a small shudder pass through him. For some reason, he found that one word, uttered as she had, extremely exciting. "Oh, um ... it's okay, really ... uh ..."

Cassie giggled. Richie slowly smiled as well, unable to help himself. As he continued to look into her eyes, the aura vanished completely from his sight. Now he believed it must never have been there in the first place.

"Perhaps ... there's something you wish to say to me as well?" Cassie asked sweetly.

Richie swallowed. "Something ... uh ... I-I don't understand ..."

Cassie glanced off to the side, as if checking to see if anyone were listening. Richie invariably did so as well, and when he turned his eyes back to her, he flinched slightly when he found she had stepped right up to him. He gazed directly into her deep, blue-gray eyes. It was like looking into an endless ocean under a twilight sky.

"Remember, Richie," Cassie said in a whisper. "I wasn't the only one of us that was a little naughty."

"Huh? Oh ... Uh ... you mean ... last semester ... the notebook pages?"

"Mm-hmm."

Richie felt his heart pounding. He had no idea why. "Uh ... well ... yeah, I'm sorry for that, Cassie, I ..."

"Maybe you want to make it up to me?"

"I ... make it up ... uh, well, I guess." Richie paused a moment, his mind racing. He heard a faint noise. It was Cassie; she was panting lightly through barely-parted lips. Richie suddenly felt very warm. "You, uh ... want to go to lunch with me?"

"Actually ... I was hoping for something a little more ... private."

Richie drew in a breath. "P-private? Why?"

Cassie giggled. To Richie, that particular sound coming from Cassie was highly erotic. He felt a stirring in his crotch.

"You don't want to ... apologize ... to me in front of everyone, now do you?" Cassie cooed.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I suppose not."

"Yes, you want to keep up that image, don't you?"

"Er ... what image?"

"The image of the big ... strong ... powerful man that everyone thinks you are. You wouldn't want them seeing you apologize to a girl, now would you? That's just not right."

Richie swallowed. He now knew exactly what the words "raging hard-on" meant. He just didn't understand why he could apply the words to himself now. Part of him was yelling that this was so very wrong. This was Cassie, of all people! "O-Okay ... then what do you want to do?"

She giggled again. "Meet me after school?"

"After school? Sure, I ... oh, wait, I can't."

Cassie pouted. "Why not?"

"I have detention. I have to stay after."

Cassie paused a moment. "Where are you having detention, Richie?"

"Where? Uh, I don't know, they ..."

"Who would know?"

"Um ... y-you can check with the adminstrative office, I guess ..."

She nodded. "In that case, I'll see you later."

"See me later? But ..."

"And in the meantime ... just keep thinking about how you need to make it up to me for being so mean to me."

The normal protest that would flow so easily to Richie's lips after hearing such a thing stopped before it was even half-formed. Instead, Cassie's thought pushed it back, and now her words flowed through his mind instead.

"Are you thinking about it, Richie?"

He simply nodded at her.

Cassie smiled again and stepped back, keeping her gaze locked on his for a few more moments before finally turning and walking away. Her hips swung a bit with her steps.

Richie blinked a few times and let go with a deep, resonant sigh. He had to pause a moment until his cock was not so rock-hard in his pants. "What the hell just happened?" he muttered softly to himself.

Yet in part of his mind, he already knew. It could do nothing, however, against the part that now housed Cassie's thoughts and desires.

He quietly finished rearranging his locker and went off to lunch.

James Nells' life sucked.

He had a lousy summer. Richie Gardner's goddamn team kept beating his in baseball; he got a case of poison ivy in a rather embarrassing place and had to admit to his parents and the doctor that he skinny-dipped in the Haven river on a dare; his girlfriend dumped him when he tried to get past first base with her and go for the home run (and he was convinced that it was her that had led him on in the first place).

And now he had to see some stupid nurse for a stupid physical at this stupid high school in a stupid nowhere town like Haven. No, his life could not possibly suck any worse, and he saw no prospects for it getting better.

He opened the door to the nurse's station.

"Hello, James," said Nyssa cheerfully. She thrust one slim, bare leg forward. "I've been expecting you."

James' mouth dropped open. He swallowed and cracked a very small smile.

Well ... maybe he could amend that last part.

"Marcie."

There was a mad scramble from the reception area before Marcie poked her head around the side of the door frame. A single lock of hair fell out of her bun and over one eye. "Yes, Miss Bendon?"

Laura leaned back in her seat. "I need a favor from you."

Marcie smiled and stepped around the side of the door and more fully into the office. "Yes, Miss Bendon, what may I do for you?" she asked eagerly.

Laura paused and allowed herself a small smile. "I wish to give you a new assignment this semester."

Marcie's eyes widened along with her smile. "Really? What is it?"

"I would like to put you in charge of overseeing detention this year."

Marcie's smile faded. "Er ... detention, Miss Bendon?"

"Detention, Marcie, yes."

Marcie paused a long moment, her eyes darting off to the side for a moment, her head shaking as if answering "no" to some unspoken question. "Um ... I thought ... I thought Mr. Seeger ..."

"He is tired of doing it year in and year out." Laura smirked. "And seeing the same faces there as well."

"But ... but Miss Bendon ..."

Laura leaned forward and folded her hands before her. She flashed her subordinate a gentle smile. "Is there a problem, Marcie?"

"Problem? ... Oh, um, yes, Miss Bendon," Marcie said sheepishly. "I'm ... I-I'm just not good with children, Miss Bendon, is the thing ..."

"Oh, come now, Marcie, these are hardly children. They're in their teens."

Marcie cringed. "Yes, I know," she said in a tiny voice. "That's even worse."

There was a long silence. Marcie swallowed, looking flustered, shying away from her boss' gaze.

"Marcie, please look at me when I am speaking to you."

Marcie blinked and immediately snapped her gaze to Laura's, eyes wide. "Sorry, Miss Bendon."

"Marcie, you want to do a good job, don't you?"

"What? Why, yes, Miss Bendon!" Marcie gushed. "You know I do! I do everything you tell me to do."

"This is no different. This is a task I need you to do."

Marcie paused. Her eyes remained locked with Laura's as she nodded slowly.

"And you'll do it for me because that's what you want to do."

She nodded again. "Yes, Miss Bendon, of course."

"And if you do a good job, Marcie, I'll make sure to give you a reward."

"Huh? A reward? You mean ... a raise? A bonus?"

"Not quite. But I promise it will be something nice. Something to show my appreciation for being such a good receptionist."

Marcie slowly smiled. "You really think I do a good job for you, Miss Bendon?"

"Indeed, I do. But if you want to keep doing a good job ..."

"Of course I do!"

"Then you'll do this task for me. Starting today."

Marcie hesitated, but slowly nodded again. "Of course, Miss Bendon."

Laura smiled. "Make me proud of you, Marcie. Convince me you want to be good."

"I will, Miss Bendon. I won't disappoint you, I promise! Thank you!"

Still smiling, she turned to leave, only to bump against the door frame. She giggled sheepishly, cheeks pink, and ducked out of the office.

Laura leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her pussy burned hot, and she could smell her own arousal, as intense as it was. Rather than consummate it, she let the flames of her desire wane slowly. She would not cum now. Only for Nyssa, and no one else. This was just her own intense excitement over the future.

She opened her eyes and let her breath out slowly. She had done what Nyssa wanted of her. She would receive a very nice reward later. She shuddered at the thought of the pleasure it would bring her.

It was all she had now. Each day, the feeling grew inside her that this is all she would ever have, even after she was released from Nyssa's thrall. She could not see herself going back to the old Laura Bendon.

By that time, the old Laura would simply wish to have no part of what she had become, and would be gone to her forever.

For Kathy Galton, there was one saving grace in being pulled out of her class to go see the nurse. She didn't have to keep listening to Irene Miller telling all those lies about her.

Kathy sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. She wished she knew why Irene was so mean to her. All Kathy wanted to do was be friends with her. For so long Kathy looked up to her in elementary school. Irene was so pretty, and so smart, too. That was a rare combination in Kathy's peers. Kathy was intelligent as well, and she thought she had found a kindred spirit.

Instead, all she got from Irene was whispered derision and put-downs, often spoken right behind her in class, just loud enough for her to hear, but not enough for the teacher to notice.

Kathy wished she could get herself to be angry with Irene. But all she could do was despair over it. All she had to comfort her were her own fantasies about what it might be like to have Irene as a friend. As a really close friend, one that would do anything for her.

She shuddered and shook her head, feeling her cheeks grow warm. No, she couldn't let herself go there. Not now. Not ever.

She opened the door to the nurse's station, and all her depressed thoughts were forgotten when her eyes fell upon Nyssa.

Nyssa smiled softly and stepped up to her. Kathy stared up into Nyssa's eyes and uttered a very small moan when Nyssa touched her cheek.

"We have a great deal to talk about, you and I," said Nyssa. "And I promise you ... you'll be feeling so much better about things when we're done."

Melinda stomped to her locker with a sullen look on her face.

Her day was not going well. The one chance she got to see Jason for a short while, right after his lunch period and just before her own, might well have never happened. Jason was obviously upset about something, which made Melinda nervous. Then when he simply lamented that he had no one to talk to at lunch since Richie had been rather quiet and Frank had been upset about something he wouldn't talk about, Melinda blew up at him.

"Oh, yeah, my heart bleeds," she had retorted angrily. "I haven't made any new friends yet so I eat alone every freaking day!"

That had left neither one of them in a good mood after that. Her thoughts about her sister were not pleasant, either. If Heather had not kept brooding like the end of the world was nigh, Melinda's temper would not have been on such a hair-trigger.

And if that were not bad enough, her math teacher had just given her a ton of homework. Now she had to do that on top of playing hostess to Cassie again. She wouldn't have any time to herself all day or evening.

Melinda crammed her books from the previous class into her locker and grabbed the ones for her next. In her anger she failed to see the flaw in the ordering of her actions and sent several books tumbling to the floor.

Out of the extreme corner of her eye, she spotted someone approaching her just as she was bending down to pick up the books, so she was not startled when she heard the voice.

"Melinda? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Cassie, just a moment." She straightened up and turned. "I just had to ..."

Melinda uttered a short shriek, her books falling to the floor again.

Cassie looked at Melinda oddly. "Something the matter?"

Melinda's heart hammered and her chest felt tight. For a horrible moment she felt she could not breathe.

She saw it far more detail than Richie ever had. To her it look exactly like a gown, woven from thin, delicate strands of black, yet writhing around Cassie's body like a living thing. It was translucent, nothing at all like the thick miasma that surrounded the principal. She could see right through it and every detail of Cassie body beneath it.

"Melinda?"

Melinda forced herself to take a deep breath, but shuddered visibly as she let it go. "N-no, I'm fine," she said in a terribly strained voice. She swallowed hard. "Just f-fine. What ... what did you want?"

Cassie smiled. There was something about it that chilled Melinda to the bone. "I can't make it to your house today," she explained. In a softer voice she added, "I've made other plans."

"You have? Good! I-I mean ... I ..."

Cassie giggled and cupped a hand around one of Melinda's cheeks. Melinda gasped loudly, her eyes wide in fear. Yet the next moment, she inexplicably felt a tiny tremor of pleasure radiate through her body. The juxtaposition was almost too much for her to bear.

"Actually, it is good," said Cassie. "I'm going to be doing something I've always wanted."

Melinda nodded, too stricken to speak. She felt faint little tingles in places she knew she should not be. She was sure it would drive her insane if it continued much longer.

Cassie lowered her hand. Melinda let out a ragged sigh. "You look a little tense, Melinda. Are you all right?"

Melinda nodded, her eyes darting everywhere. She could not get herself to focus on her eyes. It was simply too disturbing for her. "Just ... a-a bad day, that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it? Are you having dreams as well you want to share?"

"No, Cassie, th-that's okay, I ..."

"I could stop by your house when I'm done later."

"No!" Melinda exploded. "I-I mean, no, that's okay. It'll be too late by then anyway."

Cassie giggled at the term "too late", though she was not sure why. "Okay, Melinda. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day." She smiled, her voice dropping into a husky cadence that made Melinda shiver. "I know it will be for me."

She turned and headed down the hallway. Her ethereal gown trailed inky darkness behind her.

Richie did not bother stopping by his locker. He simply went right from his last class to the faculty administration offices. At this school they never had him do schoolwork during detention. Instead, he was given some menial task to do, like sorting papers, or cleaning whiteboards, or restacking and cataloging books in the school library.

He actually didn't mind this. It was a better way to pass the time than homework. Menial tasks let his mind drift, and he could keep himself entertained with his own thoughts. As much as Mr. Seeger got tired of seeing him in detention so much, really he was virtually a model student in this venue. He did what he was told and didn't talk back.

Occasionally, Mr. Seeger wondered if the boy perhaps liked detention.

Richie shuffled into the administrative area. A few of the other clerks recognized him at once and waved. He gave them a smirk and waved back. He finally came to the receptionist, who was engrossed in something on her computer.

Richie grinned. He liked this part.

"Richie Gardner reporting for detention as ordered," he said loudly.

Marcie uttered a loud gasp and flew back in her chair, a hand rising to her bosom and covering her heart. "Huh?! What?! Oh ..." She swallowed and let go a sigh, giving him a weak smile. "Yes, of course." She stood up.

Richie shook his head. "Nah, don't bother, I know the way." He turned and started down the aisle that led to the vice principal's office just around the corner from Bendon's office.

"Oh, Mr. Gardner, wait!" Marcie came out from behind her desk, tripping over her own feet for a moment and nearly stumbling into him. She straightened her glasses as she stepped in front of him. "Um, it's this way," she said, gesturing back the way she came.

Richie gave her a funny look. "But Mr. Seeger's office is right there, isn't it?"

Marcie was already shaking her head. "Um, you're going to have detention with me instead. I'm, uh, taking over that job this semester."

Richie looked askance at her. So Mr. Seeger gave up on it, finally? He felt sorry for Marcie. He didn't intend to give her any trouble, but some other guys he knew that got detention now and then would eat her alive.

He shrugged. "Whatever."

Marcie managed a small smile and led Richie out of the administrative area. Richie raised an eyebrow as he fell into step behind her, his eyes drawn downward.

Huh, he thought in some amusement. May dress like a schoolmarm but she's got one sweet ass.

Thus Richie had something to entertain him as he was taken down the corridor that led to the lab areas. Marcie eventually led him into the chemistry lab. There he saw that the seniors had held class earlier. The lab tables were still covered with the equipment, various detritus left over from whatever experiment they had been conducting, and leftover handouts and notes.

"You're to straighten up this lab," Marcie said as she walked over to the front desk, pulling out the chair with a loud noise of wood against tile. "Throw away all the papers, clean up, and put all the equipment away."

Richie gave a quick nod of his head. "'Kay."

Marcie looked at him for a moment, trying to look stern. Richie had to stop himself from snickering. She slipped onto the chair and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Now, I don't want you giving me any trouble, young man, you understand?"

Richie had to cough to stop from laughing. Even then his voice quavered with amusement as he said, "Anything you say, Miss Fuller."

Marcie narrowed her eyes slightly as she reached into her purse and took out a book. It was a Harlequin romance novel. This almost set Richie off completely, as it was exactly what he predicted she would produce.

Marcie looked up. "Well, uh ... what are you waiting for? Get to work."

Richie coughed a few more times. He simply nodded in response, unable to get himself to talk without chuckling.

"So where's Richie?" asked Heather.

"Detention," answered Jason as he walked up to her in the parking lot.

"What, already? The first week of school isn't even over yet!"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, I know. Don't try to tell him that, though. It's almost like a badge of honor with him."

Heather sighed. "You know, I still don't get how you and he could be friends in the first place."

"Let's not go into that again, please."

"All right, fine. So who'd he hit?"

"No one. He didn't do an assignment. Really, he doesn't go beating up on people anymore."

Heather smirked. "Anymore."

"Well ..."

His thoughts were interrupted by Melinda's distressed shout. "Jason! Heather! Oh my God!"

Jason turned in surprise as he saw Melinda barreling towards them like a freight train. Heather's eyes widened at the look of fear on her little sister's face.

Melinda nearly ran into the both of them in her effort to go from full run to dead stop. She stumbled, both Jason and Heather shooting out hands to steady her.

"Melinda, what's wrong?" Heather said, her voice rising. "What is it?"

Melinda panted, trying to catch her breath. She clutched at a stitch in her side. "It's ... it's Cassie ... she has ... the aura ... j-just today ..."

Heather and Jason exchanged a look. "Melinda, you said she was okay!" Heather cried.

"What about yesterday?" demanded Jason. "When you had her over? Didn't you see it then?"

"How bad was it?"

"Did she try anything with you? Are you all right?"

"Is she ...?"

"One at a time!" Melinda shrieked. She panted a few more times. "God! No, I didn't see it before today. She was perfectly fine yesterday! It was only today, in the hallway before my last class."

"Melinda, you said she was coming over to your house again today ..." Jason began.

"Oh, no, she isn't!" declared Heather. "Bad enough Mom is like that, we're not letting ..."

"Shut up, both of you!" Melinda cried. "She's not coming over. She canceled out on me. I don't know why."

"What difference does that make?"

"But what's she going to do now? Heather, people with that ... that horrible darkness ... they're not about to do nice things!"

"Well, technically, we don't know that," Jason put in.

Melinda stared at him as if he had just sprouted a third arm. Heather was looking oddly at him as well.

"I mean, look at it. Principal Bendon hasn't really done anything against anyone that we know ..."

"Except that horrible medical program!"

"But Miss Neris is okay."

"So you say!"

Jason sighed. "Look, I'm just saying that we don't know what they're doing."

"Mara told us we have to stop others from falling to this," Melinda piped. "Something happened to Cassie. Someone got to her."

"How? And who?"

"Principal Bendon maybe?"

"Look, do either of you remember seeing Cassie earlier today?"

Both Melinda and Heather shook their heads. Heather sighed. "So you're saying it might not have happened at school."

Jason nodded. "It's possible, anyway."

Melinda stamped her foot in frustration. "It's not fair!" she cried shrilly. "Mara gives us this stupid power and then we can't figure out what to do with it!"

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with it," Heather commented.

Melinda rounded on her. "Yeah, I don't. But that's not going to make it go away, is it? So I might as well do something with it. I don't want to see more people with that thing around them!"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?"

All three whirled around in surprise. Frank stared at them, an angry look on his face.

"Um, nothing, it ..." Jason began.

"Don't give me that," Frank snapped. Still upset about that morning, he was not about to be lied to again. "You guys have been talking up some weird crap the last few days. What's going on? Something happening at the school? Something up with the principal? What is it??"

Jason sighed. He sensed the desperation in Frank's voice as well as the anger. He could tell that Frank just wanted to fit in with them. "Look, Frank, I promise, I'll tell you about it later, okay?"

Frank sighed. "No, you won't," he said despondently. "Forget it. Thanks for nothing."

"Frank, wait! I just ..."

Frank stalked off and climbed into the waiting bus.

"Damn," Jason muttered.

"I knew we shouldn't keep talking about this on the bus," Heather said in a low voice.

Before Jason could reply to that, Melinda pointed. "Look! Isn't that Cassie's limo?"

The other two turned. The long, black car sat waiting with the motor running. The driver was leaning back in his seat, a newspaper sitting open across the steering wheel.

"I wonder what's he's waiting for ..."

"Uh, Cassie, most likely," Jason replied.

Melinda made a face at him. "I don't mean that. Why isn't Cassie there yet? We should try to find her or follow her or something."

"Huh? How do you expect we do that?"

"Then you come up with something! We can't ..."

All three were startled by the blast of the school bus horn. "Yer gonna get on or whut?" came Mr. Bradley's acerbic voice from inside.

Melinda gave Jason a stricken look. Jason just shrugged. "We can't do anything right now. We'll just have to talk about it later."

Melinda gave him a dark look and headed into the bus. Jason and Heather reluctantly followed. Heather gave one last look towards the still-waiting limo before climbing on board.

"Psst."

Marcie did not respond at first. She was in the middle of a rather intense scene in the novel. Her lips had parted, and her eyes were riveted to the text. She swallowed slowly as she felt herself responding to the growing eroticism in the plot.

"Psst!"

Marcie finally blinked and looked up. "Huh?"

Richie looked up from where he was washing out some test tubes in the sink. "What?"

"Did you say something?"

Richie looked at her oddly and shook his head.

Marcie paused, shrugged, and dropped her eyes back to the book.

"Psst!"

Marcie looked up and back at Richie. He was still standing over the sink, placing washed test tubes on a mat to dry. She finally thought to turn her head slightly, and saw the figure standing just outside the doorway to the room.

Marcie began to open her mouth. Cassie placed a finger over her own lips and shook her head. Marcie gave Cassie a nonplussed look but closed her mouth without saying a word.

Cassie made an urgent "come here" gesture, smiling mischievously.

Marcie pointed at herself with a questioning look. Cassie nodded quickly and made the gesture again.

Marcie was still quite confused, but she turned to Richie and said, "I, um, need to step out for a few moments. Please continue what you are doing."

"Sure thing, Miss Fuller," Richie said automatically, not even looking up.

Marcie let her gaze linger on him for a moment as she got out of her chair, as if expecting him to do something sneaky at that very moment. She kept glancing at him as she walked across the room and out the door into the hall. Richie looked up and smirked before returning to his task.

Cassie had advanced a short distance down the hall away from the door, gesturing for Marcie to come close again. Marcie sighed and stepped over to her. She put her hands on her hips, trying to look indignant and full of authority. Of the two, she pulled off only the former. "Now, what is this about, uh, young lady? Should you even still be here?"

"I know I shouldn't, Miss Fuller, but ... well ... I wanted to give my boyfriend a surprise gift."

"Your ... " Marcie smiled. "He's your boyfriend?"

Cassie nodded. "Oh yes. Very much so. And I really so much wanted to give him a little token of my affection."

Marcie's smile widened. "Oh, that's so sweet," she gushed. "What are you giving him?"

Cassie ignored the question. "But then he went and got himself in detention, so I couldn't meet him after school."

"Oh ... well, uh, can you wait until he's done?"

Cassie sighed. "I can't, Miss Fuller. My parents are going out tonight and I have to be home very soon. But I was wondering ... if you would be so kind, Miss Fuller, if you would ... well ... just let me go in and be alone with him for a short while? Just ten minutes."

Marcie bit her lip. "I don't know ... I'm not supposed to do that ..."

"Oh, please? It would be so terribly romantic."

Marcie sighed and grinned weakly. "Well, all right. I guess I can allow that just this once."

Cassie beamed at Marcie. "Oh, thank you, Miss Fuller! "

Marcie nodded. She sighed wistfully. She wished she had someone in her life with whom she could be that romantic. "Tell you what. I'll give you fifteen minutes. How's that?"

"Wonderful, Miss Fuller! I can't tell you how much this means to me."

Marcie smiled again and headed down the hallway towards her office.

Cassie waited until Marcie disappeared around the corner at the intersection of the lab area corridor with the main hallway. Her smile turned a touch sultry and wicked before she advanced on the door to the classroom. She paused a moment, then swung around the side of the door frame and slipped inside.

Before Richie could see her, she carefully closed the door.

Richie had just finished the last of the test tubes, drying his hands on a towel when he heard the click of the catch on the door. When he looked up and saw who it was, he flinched and felt a momentary twinge of fear. At the very edge of his perceptions, he could again see the very faint, flowing lines of darkness around Cassie's form.

"Cassie, what ... what the hell are you doing here?" Richie sputtered. "Where's ...?"

Cassie walked slowly towards him. She smiled, her lips wet and sultry. She held her gaze level and intense, where it fell on his eyes and never left. Richie backed a half-step away from her until he fetched up against a counter that ran at right angles to the sink, effectively trapping him. "I wanted to ask you something, Richie."

Richie drew his breath in sharply and swallowed hard. Her voice was impossibly husky and incredibly sexy. There was a strange undertone to it, something he had never heard before. It was impossible to ignore and riveted his attention. Even as his eyes tried to avert themselves from her gaze, the voice was having almost as great an effect.

"I wanted to know, Richie," Cassie said, stopping just a few feet in front of him. "I wanted to know if you thought about what I said earlier."

Richie felt his heart pounding. Even as he tried to avoid her gaze, he kept catching glimpses of her intensely dark blue-gray eyes at the edge of his vision. It kept drawing his own eyes closer and closer to them. "What you said earlier?" he asked, though in his mind he already knew what it was. It had never quite left him since that moment in the hallway before lunch. It had always remained in the back of his mind. Now she was summoning it forth again.

Cassie took a step closer. "You did something very, very naughty to me," Cassie purred. "And you need to make that up to me."

"Cassie, I ... I don't know what you want from me ... I can't ..."

He trailed off as she took another step towards him. He tried to back up further into the counter behind him to no avail. He could see the black more easily now. It rippled and writhed around her body. In its gown-like shape, it had a terrible elegance to it.

Cassie reached forward and placed her fingers gently under his chin. So surprised by the gesture was he that he lifted his eyes immediately, and was drawn irrevocably into hers.

"Oh, you'll know what I want," Cassie said. She slid closer, until her bosom almost touched his chest. "I promise that you will. Very soon."

Richie was panting. He could not tear his eyes from hers. The darkness around her faded. As it did, more of his mind opened to her. Cassie's eyes took on an intensely desirous look. Richie responded in kind, a quiver rippling through him, a stirring manifesting between his legs.

Cassie's voice dropped to a hot, sultry whisper. "First ... you must realize just how bad ... just how naughty ... you were to me."

Cassie's hand left his chin. Her fingers touched his chest and ran slowly down his shirt. A shudder went through him, his cock becoming almost painfully hard in his pants.

"If you realize it, Richie ... if you really feel it ... if you really understand ... it will feel very nice ..."

At once, Cassie's feelings of hurt and pain, every nuance of what she had felt when she had discovered what he had done, rose up inside him and suffused his mind. Immediately following this was his own guilt, heavy and thick, smothering his consciousness.

"Y-yes," he groaned. "Yes, I know ... I'm sorry ... I ..."

When he thought he would suffocate under the weight of these emotions, he gasped as he felt a wave of delightful pleasure radiate through his body. His cock rose as if it were being deeply stroked. It banished the terribly somber feelings from his mind, filling it only with a sense of hanging at the edge of final bliss.

Cassie slid in closer until her body pressed lightly against his. She avoided touching the straining bulge in the crotch of his jeans. "Very good," she cooed. "Very good, Richie. You understand now. You truly understand."

"I do ..." Richie breathed.

She shifted her body, rubbing her bosom against him. She had removed her bra before coming to the classroom, her mounds soft, warm, and free against his body. Richie panted hard, his body trembling with growing lust.

"You've been a bad boy, Richie," Cassie said. "And you need to make amends for that. That will be the next thing you need to learn. Do you think you can, Richie? Do you think you can figure out how to atone for this?"

Richie uttered a barely audible whimper. In his mind, he was begging her to touch him, to make it final, to complete what she had started.

Cassie smiled and giggled. "Oh, yes, I can see you want to. And you know it will be wonderful. But ... you're not quite ready ... no ... think about it ... think on how you can make amends. You'll find it. Tonight. In your dreams. You'll find the answer. And then tomorrow ... at this same time ..."

She dropped her voice into a breathy tone that was little more than a moist touch of heat.

" ... we'll make it happen."

She brushed her lips against his, her hand making fleeting gestures towards his crotch but never quite touching him. Richie shuddered, nearly collapsing, his body shaking. Cassie smiled at him one last time and turned away. She paused at the door, waved, giggled, and ducked out of the room.

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