1. A quiet study hall

Lewis Fatbind raised his head from the paper on which he was writing tonight’s set of instructions. He looked over the study hall he was in charge of. Three lines. Two rows. Twelve boys studying hard, using every single minute of the fifty minutes period to get done with their homework, to get rid of chores, to be ready for play time. They kept concentrated at what they were doing, as there were twenty more minutes to go before they would go out for the first evening break, go and have dinner, take the second break and play some sports, then go back to the dorm house where tonight was supposed to be special. And they still had to keep their reputation as the elite of academic studies at Saint Thomas More.

It was most pleasing to Fatbind’s eye to behold once more the wonderful setup of his study hall. He had designed it all by himself. And he had yet another occasion to admire how efficient the whole design was. Steven and Mike, two usually cheerful ninth graders, endeavoured to trade discretely a sharp pencil against a red ball pen. They had managed to communicate about the object of the exchange without attracting their supervisor’s attention, but they would eventually get caught in the act. Fatbind never really understood why some would still try their luck when any motion was so closely monitored and there was no real hope to go unnoticed when he watched them over.

So Steven and Mike decided to give it a little try. But of course the hobbles were too short. Not until these boys had done something foolish would have it been possible to notice that they were not totally free. Their legs were tied to those of the chairs they were sitting in. And some thin chains linked to some string bracelet forbade any motion outside from their studying position. And it all ended in the pen and the pencil falling to the floor. They turned to Fatbind, quite sure they had been spotted, and he gave them his nicest ‘I’m glad you’re asking for it’ grin. They melted. They knew it was not the time to give him an opportunity to choose them for tonight’s little slumber party. But it was too late.

Fatbind rose from his desk and came to stand behind the two culprits. Even though they had wanted to beg for mercy, the very wide strip of transparent adhesive tape plastered over each mouth would have prevented such an attempt.

"Am I too lenient? You think you can disobey? Or are you volunteering for a little stay in the extra study room?"

Yeah. Right. A little stay, Steven thought. Fatbind was inclined to understate things. And now they were his pick.

“You need a little stay at the poles to get you in condition for this evening’s happenings.” said Lewis as he untied them from their seats while cuffing their hands behind their backs. He helped them up on the room wide podium upon which his own desk sat prominently. Mike loved to see the supervisor’s body set into motion. His figure was always enhanced by sexy sportswear. Today, he had his ultra tight ultra shiny track suit on. His 22 year-old body was lean and wiry, very similar to Mike’s own, and Lewis was one his most prominent role models at the moment. Some sort of lust was certainly involved in the fascination the boy had for the dorm monitor.

2. Punished!

Both boys complied with his demand that they climb on the scaffold. The poles were two vertical bars made of wood lengthily waxed. They were solidly anchored into both the ceiling and the floor and were used for the penance of unruly schoolboys who did not focus enough on their independent studies. The offenders were trussed up to the poles where they had to stay for a time that ranged from fifteen minutes to several hours. They then had to make up for the missed study time, which meant they then missed the play time.

He started roping Mike to the left pole, carefully linking his ankles, his knees, his upper thighs, his wrists, his arms and his neck to the wooden bar. He immediately went and worked on his other patron. Barely ten minutes later were both boys faultlessly restrained. No ropes were actually biting into their flesh, yet their immobility was total and their hope for liberation resting in the hands of the quite unpredictable Lewis. He still had to add:

"And, to top it all…"

He went to search his desk. Steven knew what that meant. Lewis presented him first the pear gags he had selected for them. He slowly peeled away the very sticky tape that ensured Steven’s quietness when in the study hall and asked him to open wide. Steven stretched his jaws and let Lewis’s fingers in. They grabbed a big block of yellow Play-doh that had kept his tongue from moving since he had entered the study hall. Lewis carefully laid it on a piece of paper towel he had spread on the desk.

He then undertook to make the boy silent again and shoved the pear into his mouth where it would make as good a job as the dough in suppressing any possibility of articulate speech. The leather casing of the whole apparatus succeeded not only in covering his lips and most of his lower face, but also in immobilizing his jaws. Fatbind always gave the pupils he trained the best, and this time again he gave the best to Steven and Mike. He left them utterly motionless and speechless as he went to free the six remaining students who had just obediently witnessed the show of two of their fellow schoolboys on their way to being disciplined; they could only be glad not to have been chosen themselves…

3. Lewis' background

Such a scene was possible because of past events, in which the current supervisor was involved, which changed the fate of the Saint Sebastian dorm house at Saint Thomas More School for Boys. In this house, one of twelve named after a famous historical character, on the two upper floors of the three stories building, Lewis Fatbind had started it all. It was six years ago. He was one of the one hundred and fifty boarders who stayed all week, sometimes even over the week-end. To most of those kids, it was a golden and cosy hell. But it was paradise for young Lewis Fatbind. He shared a room with two other kids he had known for the last three years, Fred and Ben. They thought of their trio as one of indefectible friends. And to some extent, that’s quite what they became.

The three boarders were then in eighth grade. If the reality of puberty had never been verbally addressed, they knew enough and some little details had come up like shaving, using a deodorant and engaging in some self-pleasuring when the lights were out. Lewis took great pleasure in sharing the intimacy of his two friends, but started to realize that he also had feelings towards them that did not have much to see with noble friendship. He knew deep in his heart that either Fred or Ben was suited to become his very special friend. He had to find out which.

Fred had more delicate features, with an almost oriental face, wonderful cheekbones, nice long fluffy eyelashes underlining deep brown eyes and lips Lewis dreamed of kissing. His slightly dark complexion gave him a very appealing look. (Lewis’s adjective at the time was more like "yummy!".) Lewis chose to take his chance with him first.

Actually, Ben happened to have to leave for a couple nights. Some swimming competition out of town. It was the perfect opportunity for Lewis to check Fred out. They had a little conversation, and it turned out that Fred had gotten subtle hints of Lewis’s attraction to him. And he thought he was able to reciprocate his sensual leanings. The two nights ended up being a long journey, an exploration of their respective feelings; shyly at first, but there seemed that there was in this encounter a promise of something better yet to come.

Lewis would have been very surprised to learn his two fellow-boarders had actually already become intimate. The summer before, Ben and Fred had camped for over ten days in a little remote place Ben’s parents owned far out up a little valley. It was a wood, with a cabin in the clearing by the pond, which was in fact an artificial widening of a much smaller stream. They cooked on wood fires and ran around naked or in tight swimming suits, jumping into the clean water and spending lots of time laughing and fooling around with each other. Ben of course loved swimming. Fred enjoyed watching his graceful body cut through the water. Nights were particularly pleasant. And it all ended, which put both kids through hell. It felt like the two weeks before school resumed were the longest they had ever lived in their life. And once back, they had yet to preserve their secret.

To be continued - - - -