The Test School - Ch. 01

"I had hoped our guest would arrive by now, but we'll keep things moving," he said, with a small clap of his hands. "Ms Margrie can you please open the box and take out the topmost item."

All eyes were locked on the stage as Heather examined the box like she'd just been told it was a bomb, trying to hold it carefully at the maximum possible distance. She eventually found the latch and lifted the lid slowly away from her, blocking the audience's view. Raven heard the faint metallic clink of two pieces of metal colliding as Heather pulled something out.

It was a shiny belt of some kind, though as Heather extracted it from the box, a new section attached to the belt appeared. Heather realised what it was and her mouth opened, Mr Clark saw the recognition and gestured for her to explain what it was.

"It's--" Heather tried, but couldn't bring herself to say anything further. Mr Clark gave her a few seconds to try to bring herself together, but the thought was still too much for her.

"What Ms Margrie is holding is known as a chastity belt" Mr Clark finally said, before holding out his hand for Heather to hand it over, which she eagerly did. "And it's going to be the first of many tools and techniques we'll be trialling at this school." He was showing it off, locking and unlocking the sections together. "Now these are a top-of-the-line design, so you'll get about a week of wear out of them before they need to be changed, and they'll have no impact on your use of the bathroom. They even have padding built in so you'll quickly forget you're wearing them. We really spared no expense on these items, so treat them well."

There was whispering from the audience and Raven turned to look at Cassie, who was staring fixedly at the belt. Mr Clark had to raise his hands and wait for the noise to die down.

"I know you'll have some questions," he said, checking his watch again, "but our guest still hasn't arrived, so we'll give Ms Margrie a break and let her go. I was hoping to use her to provide a demonstration of the belt and some of the other tools, but we'll have to wait. Can you all please give Ms Margrie a round of applause for her assistance today while she returns to her seat."

If ever a girl had been delivered by a higher power, they would've had the same look of relief as Heather Margrie. Mr Clark took the box from her, carefully putting the belt inside before closing the lid. He then put a hand on her shoulder and walked her gently to the stairs. He then ducked behind the curtains as Heather took her seat and the quiet applause stopped. When Mr Clark returned, he was carrying a plastic tub.

"Alright everyone, Ms Smith will take you all to the showers where you can freshen up from your trip. Each of you will be provided with one of these tubs with a uniform in your size, please make sure you get the tub with your name on it. These uniforms are not going to be mandatory for your entire stay here, but they will be a requirement during learning hours. Please put your normal clothes back in the tub and they'll be returned to you this evening along with your luggage on the bus" He took a breath and looked at the back of the hall to confirm Ms Smith had returned. "Each tub contains a chastity belt that's been assigned to you. If you've managed to wear underwear before, you can figure out how to put these on, but Ms Smith will be there to answer any questions. Put them on," he paused to emphasize the instruction, "and make sure you secure them by closing the lock and handing the key to Ms Smith. There's only one key per belt so if you lose it, you'll find yourself having an unpleasant stay here." He paused, thinking of what else he needed to say before allowing them to leave.

"Thank you all for paying attention so far, I'll go over the program when you return and I'll answer as many questions as I can. The first few days will be mostly orientation, so please don't stress if you miss a chance to ask a question." He took a breath before stretching out his hands to let Ms Smith take over.

The girls left the assembly hall and followed Ms Smith down a corridor. None of them willing to speak about what they'd just seen. They passed through another pair of doors into large gymnasium, before entering a changing room where a small table had been set up. Ms Smith assumed her position behind the table before indicating the girls should form a single line in front.

Raven took advantage of the bathroom, ending up at the back of the line and forced to wait as Ms Smith methodically went through the tubs, checking each girl's name on a list and handing them a corresponding tub. Raven's mind kept going back to the sight of the belt in Mr Clark's hands as he pointed to the various features. When she reached the front of the queue Ms Smith gave her a warm smile and asked for her name.

"Raven Thompson" she answered, nervousness obvious in her voice.

Ms Smith went down the length of the list with her finger and put a check mark against her name, before reaching over and grabbing a tub.

"Showers are behind you, there's a small changing section with a towel and toiletries in each cubicle so you can freshen up. Once you're clean you can change into the uniform and put everything else back in the tub, just make sure you keep the key to the belt separate and hand it back to me." Ms Smith passed over the tub, which Raven timidly accepted.

She walked down the tiled floor of the changeroom, passing rows of open cubicles. With a realisation that nearly made her drop the tub, she saw that while each cubicle had solid walls to the floor, none of them had any doors.

She walked carefully between the cubicles, trying carefully to see if any were free while also not looking at the semi-nude to outright naked figures who occupied almost all of them. She finally reached a row of empty cubicles near the rear and decided after a second to take the cubicle on the left. Apart from the notable missing door, the design was a typical camping ground shower cubicle, with a forward changing and rear shower section. She put the tub on the small bench, next to a few bottles of soap and hair products, with a hook above supporting a clean white towel.

With a deep sigh she opened the lid of the tub. Lying immediately on top was the chastity belt, resting in a velvet lined case with a clear cover to show off the belt within. She looked around embarrassed, even though no one was around to see her before deciding to have the shower before dealing with the tub.

She took the towel from the hook and folded it neatly on the bench as close to the shower as possible, before moving the bottles of soap and shampoo into the floor of the shower area. She looked across and saw Cassie entering the cubicle opposite her.

Raven watched as Cassie opened her own tub and saw the belt lying on top, blushing a little as she opened the case and took it out for closer inspection. Cassie held it up to the light, inspecting it from every angle before lowering it in front of her crotch, visualising how it would fit. She finally looked at Raven and raised an eyebrow, before tossing it back into the tub.

Raven started to strip down, removing each item of clothing carefully and folding them as she went. As she began to lay her clothes on the bench she caught sight of the belt at the top of the open tub and shuddered, before closing the tub and putting all her clothes on top to bury it.

In the other cubicle, Raven saw Cassie was stripping down, though her motions seemed far smoother, as she tossed her discarded items of clothing aside. Raven looked at the curvy body opposite and compared it to her own petite frame with embarrassment. She could fight the feeling down when comparing herself to women like Ms Smith, thinking that in some vague future she would have a body like that, but here was a student with a gorgeous body, large breasts and wide hips who didn't have to wait.

Raven looked away before Cassie could catch her gawking, and started the shower, the water was hot and Raven enjoyed the sting as she washed the stiffness out of her body. The soap was a generic brand, but it smelled nice and Raven scrubbed away at the accumulated grime from two days of travel. She finished washing at the same time as Cassie and the two walked towards each other for a second as they exited the shower, and for a second, Raven thought she saw a twitch of a smile from Cassie, but it was probably just in her head.

Raven dried herself off, careful not to knock her clothes off the tub, before hanging the towel back on the hook. She looked at the tub, staring in the hope it might change contents if she just willed it enough. Unfortunately, it hadn't and she found herself staring at the belt again as she moved her clothes and opened the tub. She went to reach for it, but stopped and brought her arm back. She wasn't afraid of it, at least she didn't think fear was the right word, was she embarrassed by it? She finally settled on humiliated. Humiliated at the idea of being forced to wear a metal belt over a private part of her body. Humiliated that a stranger would hold the literal key to parts of her.

She finally worked up the courage to pick up the case, and after a brief struggle with the clasp, take out the belt. The first thing she noticed was the weight. It was surprisingly heavy, maybe even a full kilogram of metal. She turned it around, inspecting it. There were two loops of metal, both with spongy padding wherever they were designed to touch skin. The waist band was only a few centimetres wide and felt cool to the touch, though keeping against a body would heat it up quickly. On one side of the waistband was a lock, not much bigger than the belt, but with curved edges to avoid digging into flesh. It had an engraved serial number, to identify lock and key. A central strap joined the belt in two places, wider than the waistband and designed to go between her legs and firmly against the body. There were perforations in two places, though which way they went on wasn't immediately clear.

Cassie spent longer drying off thanks to her long hair and turned to see her neighbour staring at the belt and looking overwhelmed.

"Psst," she whispered, trying to get Raven's attention but without success. "Raven," she whispered again, clicking her fingers and getting Raven's attention. Cassie nodded at the belt in Raven's hand before shaking her head, but Raven's didn't understand the message.

"They can't make you wear it" Cassie whispered, though as she checked down the aisle Ms Smith was still at the front of the room and couldn't possibly hear her.

"What?" Raven whispered back, instinctively mirroring Cassie's secrecy.

"No way they can make us wear a chastity belt, they can't force us to wear it if we don't want to."

Raven considered herself a polite and well-behaved girl who never broke the rules except, she thought, for the day that had brought her here. She would look back later and wonder why she made the choice she did, eventually deciding on a mixture of a desire to appear cool in front of a much cooler girl and her own desire to avoid that feeling of humiliation every time she shifted her hips.

"You?" she asked back.

Cassie shook her head and tossed the belt back in the tub, before thinking it through. She carefully emptied the uniform from the tub, placing a layer of her own clothes in, before grabbing the belt. She held it in her hands for a few seconds before realising the key was still in the packet. Removing the key she tossed the belt and the packet deep into the tub before burying it under the rest of her clothes, keeping the key in her hand.

Raven worked out what she was doing, carefully removing the rest of the school uniform and hiding the chastity belt amongst her own clothing. She kept the key separate as she added the packet to the tub before closing it up. She shared a conspiratorial smile with Cassie before turning to change into the new uniform.

The uniform consisted of a blouse, skirt, tie and white underwear. Raven got the underwear on and was surprised at how comfortably they fit her. She remembered the forms she'd spent hours filling out before coming to the school and tried to recall if they'd asked about underwear sizes. The blouse was white with short sleeves and buttons running up the entire length of the middle that caused Raven no end of frustration as she struggled to get them all buttoned up.

The skirt was a patterned black and white affair that stopped exactly halfway down her thighs, slightly higher than she would have preferred, but not as bad as the one she'd worn during her high school years that had threatened to expose her with every gust of wind, or careless bend of the waist. The tie was the same plaid pattern as the skirt and was a first for Raven, who had to get Cassie to show her how to tie it around her neck.

Looking back at the bench she saw that the shoes, with socks bundled inside had fallen behind the tub and she quickly added black socks and shoes to her new ensemble. She thought briefly about the bow she wore in her hair and decided she'd wear it until she was told otherwise, it was a tiny bit of colour her mother had given her that always brought joy.

She and Cassie checked each other out, evaluating the look they couldn't see on themselves since the cubicles lacked mirrors. It wasn't a bad look Raven had to admit, she'd often felt school uniforms made the wearer look juvenile, but she didn't feel bad about this. The shirt managed to look professional, though slightly enhancing the curves on her opposite and showing off her own lack of them. The skirt had two thin pockets and her blouse had a single pocket on the left breast and she silently thanked the designer for incorporating a long-desired feature.

They walked together back to Ms Smith, arms carrying the tubs with the belts concealed inside. Having entered at the back of the line they'd finished changing later than the rest of the girls and walked past empty cubicles. As they approached Ms Smith, Cassie slowed to allow Raven to go first, though Raven would have preferred to stay behind her. She worried the guilt was written on her face as she placed the tub on the table.

"All finished?" Ms Smith looked her over to confirm the uniform was in place. She paused briefly at the bow but didn't say anything and returned to scanning, getting embarrassingly low.

Raven squeezed her legs together as the gaze reached her thighs, trying to conceal what was already hidden by the skirt, before responding with a small, "All done."

Ms Smith checked the name on the tub and ticked it off her checklist for a second time. She held out her hand and Raven took a second to realise what she was after before she placed the key in Ms Smith's hand.

"Everything go okay getting the belt on?"

"All good," Raven said just a little too quickly before adding "heavier than I expected."

Ms Smith nodded thoughtfully, "You'll get used to it."

Not while it's in the tub Raven thought, as she was allowed to walk out of the changing room empty handed. A small feeling of guilt nestling in the back of her mind as she thought about the lie she'd just gotten away with. She saw the rest of her new classmates in matching outfits sitting against the wall in small groups. Deciding that she'd rather wait for Cassie she took a few steps to the side and stood waiting for her friend to exit. Cassie and Ms Smith exited the changeroom after a minute or so and the entire group was summoned to stand up and return to the assembly hall.

They all returned to the assembly hall, again limiting their seating to just the right half. Raven sat at the back this time, she'd lost track of Cassie during the shuffle and was now stuck sitting next to a tall blonde girl.

The stage had a new occupant, an elderly man with a receding hairline and a thin grey beard. He was standing off to the side and holding a clipboard that was evidently more interesting than the roomful of students. Mr Clark, Headmaster, Raven reminded herself walked back on the stage as Ms Smith walked down the stairs and left the hall. He took a brief look around the hall, scanning each row before resuming his presentation.

"Welcome back ladies, you're all looking very nice in your uniforms. I'd like you to meet our esteemed guest, Mr O'Brien." The old man looked up from his clipboard and nodded but otherwise remained motionless.

"Mr O'Brien is going to be an evaluator for the school, assessing how well your studies are progressing. He's also going to make sure that the program at this school doesn't exceed what the Department of Education has allowed, so he's the one you should speak to if you have any concerns about what is going on here. Now can Ms--" he paused for a second before changing his mind "let's bring up someone new."

He scanned the hall again, looking for a volunteer as every student did their best to hide. Raven squirmed as low as she could go in her chair without sliding off, trying to take advantage of the cover provided by the student in front of her.

"The young lady with the bow sitting in the back row, can you please come up?" He'd spotted her anyway.

Raven felt instantly nervous as every pair of eyes turned to look at her. She glanced across the back row hoping that someone else had the same taste in fashion, but found no luck. She took her time shuffling out of her seat, trying to give the Headmaster every chance to change his mind. As she reached the bottom of stairs she noticed she'd started to perspire and had to take a breath before she could carry on. Mr O'Brien watched her as she passed up the stairs, eyes trailing her as surely as everyone in the audience behind her was also doing.

"No need to be shy, just stand here," the Headmaster indicated the centre of the stage. The stage lights were dim enough for Raven to see the audience but she still felt like she was the brightest object in the world as she moved into position.

"You're Ms Thompson, correct?" he asked as she reached the centre, facing her on an angle, half to her and half to the audience.

She managed a nervous nod in response. He was more than a head taller than her and she had to look up to look into his eyes. His face seemed kind, with eyes a pale blue that was almost grey, but Raven still felt her legs wobbling nervously as he spoke again.

"Alright, Ms Thompson, would you like to introduce yourself to the audience?"

She turned to the audience and managed to squeak through her name and age but didn't really know where to go from there and looked back to the Headmaster for guidance.

"That's fine, Ms Thompson, now how are you finding the chastity belt?"

She hesitated, wondering if he knew, how he knew, before she swallowed the panic and went for broke, doubling down on the lie.

"It feels awkward and heavier than I'd expected" she answered, guessing at what he was expecting to hear. She even threw in a small hip wiggle in to try and prove the awkwardness she really felt, though for a different reason.

"That's no good" he responded looking worried, "would you mind lifting up your skirt?"

There was a sudden intake of breath from the entire audience, had he really just asked that?

Raven stared at him but didn't move, he'd called her bluff somehow and now she had nowhere to go. She turned to the man behind the clipboard in the hope of deliverance, though he didn't seem concerned about the Headmaster's request.

"Umm," she finally got out, suddenly feeling more flustered then even that day in the school bathroom.

"Ms Thompson please lift up your skirt, I need to check you're wearing it correctly. You might be hurting yourself by wearing it backwards or something."

His tone was friendly and concerned, but that did nothing to calm Raven's rising panic. Repentance! her mind screamed at her as she remembered her mother's advice that it was always better to apologise and beg forgiveness than get caught red handed. Though, she thought, her mother was unlikely to have had this situation in mind.