Skirts Part 1 (Patreon)

Skirts

By

T.G. Kadee

(For Story With Images See PDF Below)

“I wonder what sort of trouble I can get into this year?” Wyatt thought, as he skipped stones off the waters of Lake Jovita. He’d gotten good at skipping stones—never less than three hops per toss. The setting sun painted the sky in flaming oranges and reds, the blazing colors reflected in the lake, blurred and scattered by the waves Wyatt created.

The previous school year had ended with yet another trip to the office of Mother Superior. The memory came back to him as he skipped rocks across the calm surface of Lake Jovita, the sun setting in the distance.

“Your behavior is unacceptable, young man.”  Mother Superior tapped her yardstick on the top of her dark, oaken desk. “You need to stop flipping the girls’ skirts.”

“But, skirt flipping is a time-honored tradition dating back to ancient Rome,” Wyatt said. “The Romans called it Flippus to Pantius.” As he reached puberty, Wyatt had found himself eager to get a look at a girl’s underwear whenever possible, and as far as he was concerned the short skirts the girls wore amounted to entrapment. How was a boy to resist? Besides, he figured, what was the harm, really?

“Do you think this is funny, Mr. Dukes?”

There was a tone that Mother Superior took when she’d reached the end of her patience, and Wyatt heard that tone now. He sat up straight and made his face blank. “No. No, I do not. I want to apologize…”

“I’m not interested in your apology,” Mother Superior had said. “You will spend the first week of summer in detention–”

“Detention? But–”

“That will be all.”

A week of detention, Wyatt thought. I could do a week of detention standing on my head. He got punished pretty often. He didn’t care. One of the reasons he ran the school was because he had no fear of punishment. If he felt the cost was worth the crime, he did it. He’d orchestrated so many great pranks on the girls over the last year, and this year he had to top himself. His ultimate nemesis among the girls was their queen bee, Regina. He loved reminding her that while she was the boss of the girls, he was the boss of everyone. Sometimes, well, she acted like she was the boss of the school, and he had to put her in her place.

As Wyatt plotted his next moves, Mother Superior stood at the window of her office on the top floor of the old monastery looking down on him through a pair of binoculars. Wyatt and the boys had been getting more and more unruly. Her plan to stop the behavior of the rude boys was already under way.

II

“Hey, hot legs,” Wyatt called out as Regina came strutting down the hall, the heels of her Mary Janes clicking against the faded checkerboard tile. Her posse flanked her– Holly and Allison. The Power Girls. They all wore the required school uniform for girls– skirts, blouses, knee socks and heels– but somehow Regina and her crew wore it better than anyone else.

Regina raised her middle finger and slit her eyes at Wyatt. Her girls snickered on cue.

Wyatt smirked. He loved their little game. He fell in next to Regina, pushing Holly aside. “You’re a jerk,” Holly said.

“I know.” Wyatt bumped his shoulder against Regina. “We’re getting back together. You want it. I want it. The whole orphanage wants it.”

Regina stopped and turned to face Wyatt. “You’re a cheater and a liar,” she said, poking him in the chest. “Get lost.” She turned and started to walk away.

Wyatt grabbed her arm. And then he waited. He loved showing her his strength. Regina tried to yank her arm free. Failed. “Let. Go.” she said.

“Say pretty please, Miss Equality.” He loved reminding her of her lower status as a female. He knew Regina hated it. Besides, the nuns referred to all of the girls as miss or young lady, and the boys as mister or your man, so he could tease Miss Equality this way without getting in trouble.

Regina raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Why are you–” Wyatt asked, but he got his answer before he could even finish asking the question.

“Mr. Dukes,” a gravely, smoke-scarred voice called as a yard stick whacked against his leg. “We are polite at all times here at Gloucester Abbey Orphanage.”

“Ow!” Wyatt said, jumping as Mother Superior whacked him a second time. He grinned. “I just lost control because Regina is so…” WHACK. “OW!”

“Get to class, Mr. Dukes. Get to class.”

Wyatt headed off to class. He knew better than to push his luck with Mother Superior, but when he turned the corner at the end of the hall, he stopped and peeked back to see Mother Superior whispering to Regina and her girls. They were all smirking and had this conspiratorial look on their faces. It made Wyatt feel– uneasy.

Gloucester Abbey Orphanage, known as Glabby to the boys and girls who resided there, had the run down, gritty look of an inner-city school as portrayed in a 1970s movie. Old. Dirty. Tired. It always smelled like Pine-sol cleaner. Every room and hallway, it seemed, had at least one failing horror movie light constantly flickering against the shadows.

To many of the orphans this was the only home they had ever known. The horror movie vibes seemed normal to them.

.

Wyatt bounded into class and found his seat at the back of the room with his crew- Liam, Ben and Jack. “Bros,” he said as they fist bumped. Sister Blanca came in, and everyone straightened up.

Sister Blanca always had dead eyes and a dead face devoid of emotion. Until now. Today, the hint of a smile played at the corner of her lips. Wyatt felt that same sense of uneasiness he’d felt earlier seeing Mother Superior whispering with Regina.

“Boys,” Blanca announced with an air of amusement. “This year, you will engage in a period of meditation each morning.”

The boys groaned. Sister Blanc went on. “The meditations were created by a martial arts expert to help fighters gain focus and intensity.”

“Oh,” the boys said, now feeling okay with the idea. Girls were into meditation and yoga, so the boys associated meditation with dumb girl stuff. But a martial arts meditation? Cool.

Sister Blanca smiled.

Strange, alien sounding music started. “Close your eyes and take a relaxed position,” Sister Blanc said. “What you hear is the sound of Tibetan crystal bowls. They will help you find your truth.”

“Take a deep breath…”

Wyatt closed his eyes. He found himself getting lost in the music of the bowls, his mind growing hazy as if he were slipping into a waking dream. As he breathed, he thought he heard a girl’s voice whispering somewhere deep in the background of the music… … he wasn’t sure what she was saying, but her voice was like a warm safe place… and yet, she also seemed somehow… dangerous… to some part of him.

As they listened, two of the boys brought their knees together and crossed their legs at the ankles, then folded their hands primly in their laps.

Sister Blanc smiled.

The first day went by as first days do. Once classes ended, the students gathered in the auditorium for the “Welcome Back” assembly. Wyatt tuned it out, instead focusing his attention on the girls, many of whom had filled out nicely over summer. He was wondering what Melanie would like in a bikini when Mother Superior said something and the guys around him snickered.

“…including sewing, cooking and cosmetology…” Mother Superior continued.

“What was that?” Wyatt asked, the snickering catching his ear. “What did she say?”

“The girls are going to be doing cooking and sewing classes,” Ben said, grinning. “Some rich guy made a donation to restore traditional values.”

“No way,” Wyatt said, looking over the audience to try and spot Regina. He couldn’t wait to rub this shit in on Miss Equality. He spotted her sitting with her girls. She looked over at him and their eyes met. A smirk spread across her face and sha raised one eyebrow. She looked—smug.