The Test School - Ch. 02

"Can I get some for lunch, as well?" Teah pleaded, and without thinking she leant closer to the Headmaster, gently resting a hand on his thigh. She hadn't thought about doing it, there was no conscious plan or intent in her action. It was just that he was being so nice to her, when she'd been expecting something worse. Without knowing it, she'd let her guard down around this man.

She felt his warmth coming through the leg of his pants. For someone who probably self-identified as a nerd, who'd brushed off the physical education curriculum to Ms Smith, she could feel his leg was muscled and toned. His leg tensed at her touch and that snapped her back to reality. She blushed as she realised, at the school for wayward sluts, she'd just caressed the Headmaster's leg. Hell, she screamed inside, what must he think I'm doing.

He turned back from the desk, note in hand, to face her. If he'd been offended by her hand, or noticed the crimson in her cheeks, he made no mention of it. He held the note to his chest, tantalisingly close, but too intimate for her to dare reach out and grab it.

"There's a condition, you can't just take a coffee and go. If you want coffee, you have to have something to eat as well."

Teah gave him a skeptical look and was about to laugh the comment off, but his face showed no hint of humour, and the look on her face disappeared as fast as she could make it. He really cares, she thought to herself, before nodding her acceptance of his terms. It wouldn't be fun getting up that early, but she wasn't going to argue with him when he was being this nice.

The Headmaster handed her the note, which she carefully placed in her new bag before standing to leave. Teah started walking to the door, but the closer she got the more she knew she couldn't just leave it at that.

"Thank you, sir!" she called back, lingering just long enough to see him smile before she left the room.

Teah entered a cafeteria bustling with noise, almost unrecognizable from the near silent and empty space she'd found the evening before. The room had been designed for a far greater number of students than her small cohort, so there was still ample seating all around, but all the tables immediately surrounding the serving counter held at least one student tucking into their lunch.

Teah passed her note to the elderly lady behind the serving counter, apron and hairnet strongly hinting at her occupation, who glanced at the note before heading back into the kitchen. Teah decided against merely waiting, instead grabbing a lunch tray and starting to work her way through the options.

The counter was long and well stocked with all manner of lunch-time options, and Teah passed a variety of salads, wraps, soups, even burgers, before grabbing a pair of ham sandwiches and a small fruit tub. As she reached the end of the counter the elderly lady returned, handing over a mug of coffee filled almost to the brim. For a second, Teah just stood still, inhaling the aroma, feeling the fog in her mind lift with each whiff.

She took her food and coffee and started looking for somewhere to sit, heading briefly towards a table that was mostly empty before she spotted the dirty blonde hair of her foe and made an immediate U-turn. Finally, she settled on a table with just two other students. Until she had the first coffee under her proverbial -- or maybe literal -- belt, Teah wasn't going to be much of a conversationalist.

The first girl turned out to be the redheaded girl Teah had seen last night. She had shoulder length ginger hair and brown eyes. Her skin was pale, but that turned out to be a product of how nervous she was still feeling about the new school, or at least certain aspects of it. She looked overwhelmed and was still picking at her food more than eating it. When she looked up at Teah, she gave a nervous smile and Teah returned it with a friendlier version.

The second girl had short blonde hair and blue eyes. She had lightly bronzed skin and was scrawny, though the burger she was wolfing down suggested that was the result of a fast metabolism rather than deliberately starving herself. Compared to the first girl, she was also a serious chatterbox.

"Hi!" the blonde girl smiled, aggressively offering a hand, "I'm Evie."

Teah kept her hand defensively on the coffee cup as she sat down, "I'm Teah," she replied, before taking a long, eyes-closed, sip of the coffee.

If Evie felt snubbed she didn't react, instead withdrawing the hand and gesturing at the redhead, "She's Madison."

Teah nodded in Madison's direction but neither spoke.

Evie paused, before looking around conspiratorially and leaning in, "What did the Headmaster want?" She was evidently expecting a tale of punishment rivalling the previous day's disciplining, Madison seemed to tense up at the question.

Teah hesitated before answering, in her mind the discussion with the Headmaster seemed somehow intimate, but as she played it back, she couldn't think of anything she needed to hide. Well, almost anything.

"He just wanted to know why I was so tired in class, he thought I was sick or something. I just told him I'm normally up later and mainlining caffeine all day and he signed a note so the staff here would give me some."

Evie was surprised at the answer, maybe even a little disappointed, "That's it?"

"Yep, that's it."

Madison somehow looked more frightened by the absence of punishment.

Evie still didn't believe Teah. "No spanking? No..." she waved her hand around, but didn't finish the sentence. Teah took a second to work out what she meant, then let out a small chuckle.

"Nope, just wanted to chat. He sat down next to me and we talked. He was concerned about how much I was yawning and wanted to make sure everything was all right." She almost went further, to the moment she'd touched him, but caught herself.

"Why was he so nice to you?" Madison finally spoke, though only timidly.

Both girls turned to look at Madison, surprised to hear her speak at last. She'd given up on her salad, which sat more than half uneaten, and was staring at Teah. It wasn't a look of malice or surprise, she just seemed desperate to find a way through this new world she'd found herself in.

Teah opened her mouth to speak, to brush the answer off with a simple comment about him being a nice guy, when a tiny thought wormed its way into her head. Maybe he likes me? The thought echoed around her head, though she couldn't figure out where it had come from.

No, she told herself, as sternly as she could. You've been wearing a chastity belt for a day and you're already fantasizing about the Headmaster having the hots for you. As pleasant as the thought was, and the warmth under her belt indicated it was a very pleasant thought, the Headmaster was just being kind. You touched him, she reminded herself, he didn't touch you.

"I think he's just a nice guy, he even made me promise I'd have something to eat when I got coffee."

"But he spanked that girl on stage, he..." Madison couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, either.

Teah didn't have an answer for that, at least not until she saw said girl at a table behind Madison. The girl was sitting amongst a few others, all eating and chatting like they were in any normal school cafeteria. They were smiling, all having fun and the girl in question looked like she didn't have a care in the world. Dots began connecting for Teah, incorrectly as it would turn out, but a theory had formed in her mind.

"What if she was a plant?" she asked, still working through the implications.

"What?" Evie and Madison asked in unison, though Evie had to speak through a mouthful of burger.

"How did the Headmaster pick the one student who didn't wear their chastity belt, the one student who would agree to be spanked and fingered on stage." Teah was gaining confidence with each point. "He knew in advance that she wasn't wearing her belt because they'd arranged it beforehand. He probably only had permission to do it while that old guy was around to make sure the girl was safe."

Evie and Madison were looking skeptical.

"Why would he do that?" Evie asked, beating Madison to the question.

"Intimidation, he wanted to scare us all to make sure we'd wear the belts. I had a math teacher who did a similar thing. He had a student bring in a phone and set it off in the middle of class, the teacher then snapped the phone in half in front of everyone. No one dared to bring a phone into the classroom for the rest of the year, even after one of the students got freaked out and the teacher admitted it was a fake." The coffee had taken effect and Teah could almost feel the individual neurons firing.

"But we're still wearing the chastity belts?" Evie asked, slowly seeing the merits of Teah's argument.

"That's probably all he's actually allowed to do," Teah answered, "make us wear them as punishment and take them off as a reward. His theory is that we're all supposed to be horny schoolgirls, right? How would spanking and fingering us actually get results?"

Teah saw Madison wince at that last thought and paused. There was no point denying that Teah had the kind of sexual history that the Headmaster was after when he'd selected the students. Hers hadn't made the 'honour list' at the assembly, but she was still here. The thought made her realise Evie and Madison must have similar backgrounds as well, a realisation they were probably having about her.

"That would explain why the girl went along with it, there's no way I'd have asked him to keep fingering me on stage." Evie eventually responded.

Teah nodded vigorously, "None of us would, but if she was a plant, he must have made some sort of deal with her. He knew all about that first girl on the stage, he must have found the one girl who was into getting spanked and made her an offer."

"How can you be sure?" Madison spoke up again, a bit of colour slowly returning to her face.

"Because it all makes sense," Teah responded, a tad too excitedly. "He's a nice guy who just wanted to help me, when he could just have easily punished me. The other day was to scare us into behaving so we'd follow his instructions." She began counting on her fingers. "One, he managed to guess the right girl without the belt and who, two, was willing to be spanked. Three, he spanked and fingered the girl when we're supposed to be too horny to control ourselves otherwise. Four, today he was just a nice guy who wanted to help me out."

Evie looked convinced, Madison didn't, but they were both finished eating while Teah was still talking so after a change of subject, and a minute or so of polite conversation, they excused themselves and departed. Teah slowly finished her food, enjoying every bit of life-giving coffee she could extract from the mug before she had to return to class.

Teah was once again one of the last to finish, leaving the nearly empty cafeteria and heading outside. She considered heading back to her dorm room, but that was on the other side of the cafeteria and away from the main building. With time to kill before she needed to be back, she decided to take a walk around campus.

She was back in the courtyard between the cafeteria and the main building, both obviously designed by the same person, a mix of crisp white and shiny black walls, all with straight edges and large windows wherever they would fit. Looking out in one direction she could make out the track field and a large outdoor swimming pool. In the other was a series of squat single-story buildings that provided the accommodation for the staff. In both directions it was impossible to miss the imposing fence, built when this place was going to be a prison, that encircled the entire facility.

The school bell shrieked a short time later, calling both students and educators back to classrooms and offices and drawing weary sighs from members of both groups. Teah's exploration of the campus, consisting of walking down the courtyard before having to sprint back, delayed her return and extended her tardy streak, arriving at the classroom after everyone else had already taken their seats.

There had been a reshuffle in her absence, with students switching seats to get better views, or where they could be viewed less depending on their plans for the remainder of the day. Options exhausted before she entered, Teah was relegated to her pre-lunch seat near the Headmaster, a position she found decidedly less uncomfortable now. Her nemesis, the luggage bitch, on the other hand, had moved up to the front row, allowing her to fix Teah with an evil stare as she walked past.

The Headmaster was already seated at his desk, looking up from a briefcase he'd brought in after lunch as Teah took her seat. He gave the room a summary glance to ensure everyone had returned before resuming his speaking position at the front of the class, leaving the briefcase closed on his desk.

"All right everyone, I hope you had a good lunch." He began and was met with murmurs of agreement.

"Good to hear, now that we've discussed the broad outline of your classes going forward, I've got a timetable for each of you that I'll pass out at the end of class that will give you the where and the when. For the rest of today we'll start with the general arrangements of the school before going over some of the more special arrangements of the program here."

What followed was an hour-long presentation on all the amenities the students could take advantage of while staying at the Albert-03 Test School. New uniforms, including swimming and athletics, would be delivered to their room by tomorrow morning. Laundry facilities were in the same building as the cafeteria and gym. Uniforms were required on weekdays and if they were going into the main building on weekends. The women's pool was open all week around and, while restricted to the school-issued swimsuits on weekdays, they could wear their own on weekends. The outdoor pool and athletics field at the rear of the school were only open on weekdays and uniforms there were mandatory.

Teah paid, if not full then at least improved, attention to the Headmaster as he described the school. The staff offices were on the top floor of the main building and any student was welcome to come speak to him. That must make for a nice view, Teah thought idly, maybe she should visit.

"Now, how is everyone finding their chastity belts?" the Headmaster asked. If he'd told the class he had a bomb in the room he probably would have gotten a calmer response. The room was filled with the sound of shuffling butts in chairs as every student sat bolt upright. All eyes were fixed on the Headmaster, but no one dared to speak.

"No need to be shy, I know you're all wearing one."

Teah smirked, he'd all but admitted the girl on stage yesterday had been a plant. She wanted to turn around to see if Evie and Madison had noticed, but realised she had a golden opportunity to get in good with the charming Headmaster while everyone else was still afraid.

"It's fine, sir," she said, breaking the silence, and getting a warm smile out of the Headmaster as he turned to face her. The truth was she found the belt unsettling, but after the performance yesterday, she still wasn't brave enough to give him an opening, just in case.

"Thank you, Teah, I'm glad to hear it." He gave her another smile before turning back to the class. As his smile left her, she felt her heart drop slightly. You do not fancy the Headmaster! her brain screamed at her; she shook her head to clear it, but the feeling was still there.

"So you're probably wondering how the exams and the chastity belts work at this school." The Headmaster braced himself for the explanation to follow, he knew full well every student was interested in that particular subject. "Friday mornings will be our weekly exam time. You'll all be graded based on your understanding, but also on how much you've improved compared to the previous week. After that, you'll have your regular fitness class with Ms Smith while I grade your exams." He paused, to make sure he still had everyone's attention, which was completely unnecessary since he could almost feel the focus from the audience.

"What happens next, depends on how well you did on the exam. Those of you who failed the exam or didn't show enough progress will have the chastity belts removed for cleaning and a new belt will be provided immediately. Those of you with sufficiently high grades, or who have shown excellent improvement over the previous week, will have your hard work rewarded."

The room had been silent before, now it even became motionless as the students stopped breathing.

"For those rewarded, your Chastity belts will be removed for cleaning, but instead of getting a fresh belt back straight away, you'll be able to enjoy the weekend with your lower half unencumbered." He finished the last word with a grin, his audience was guaranteed to know what that implied.

The entire class exhaled as one, which seemed to be the response he was expecting. Teah was feeling smug, she'd correctly called the chastity belt at lunch to Evie and Madison. A murmur broke out throughout the classroom as students began discussing the arrangement. Teah wasn't familiar with the girl next to her, but her neighbour's apparent familiarity with the luggage bitch discouraged her from introducing herself.

The Headmaster looked at his watch, carefully allowing ninety seconds of discussion before stepping back in to bring the conversation to an end.

"Now, I need to stress that that's not a blank cheque for you ladies to run wild on your weekends off. The Gentlemen's side of the school will still be out of bounds." He looked pleased at the reaction he got from the audience, which Teah guessed was a look of disappointment from the keener girls.

"Does anyone have any questions?" He continued, "It can be about anything we've discussed today." A question popped into Teah's head, but it wasn't the kind of thing she could just ask. Much better to wait and see if someone else would ask the question first, or at least bring the conversation nearer the topic. The Headmaster began scanning the classroom for any raised hands, before nodding at someone behind Teah.

"Sir, what's considered a passing grade for the exam?"

"A pass on the exam will be anything greater than fifty percent, but in terms of getting the weekend reward I'll be looking in the seventy percent or greater range." The Headmaster paused to see if the questioner had a follow-up before adding, "But to be fair, I'm also going to reward students who show enough improvement from their previous work." He held up a hand, cutting off the obvious follow-up question before it could be asked, "I'm not going to say how much improvement I'm looking for, but it will be on an individual basis."

The questioner was obviously satisfied, and the Headmaster resumed scanning.

"Sir," A voice from the back of the room sought his attention without waiting to be selected. "When we're changing belts, how will you stop the students who didn't pass from playing with themselves?"

The Headmaster smiled at the question. "I'm going to trust you to keep your hands off yourself, Heather, and if you break that trust, I'll have you tied up and your belt changed by someone else." He seemed to consider that a normal answer to a student's question. Given the amount of time he must have spent planning this program that might have been true. There was still a rumble of surprise and displeasure from the back of the classroom.

Another hand went up, this time belonging to the girl next to Teah.

"Headmaster, will all punishments be like what you did to that girl yesterday?" Somewhere in the classroom, said girl went bright red and started staring intently at an imaginary spot on her desk.

He chose his words carefully, "The short answer is no; that was your first day here, the student had been rather naughty and we had a rare opportunity with our guest on-site."