The Freshman Ch. 26

The conference was at a rented country club, which made the entire affair surreal to Cecilia. Outside there was nothing unusual about the entrance; it was just a parking lot full of cars like anywhere else. Inside was a different story. There were lines of people checking in, still dressed in winter clothing. However, beyond the check-in there was a sign that read:

Nudity required beyond this point

Beyond that sign, not a single person was wearing anything except shoes. It was when Cecilia saw the sign it hit her that she would have to surrender her clothes and, for the first time in her life, appear naked in front of a bunch of people, most of them much older, who did not know her. She struggled to catch her breath, thinking: what the fuck have I gotten myself into? It was too late to reconsider; now she had to go through with it.

As Cecilia nerved herself to go into the women's locker room, she saw Suzanne off in the distance, loaded down, as usual, with her photography supplies. Apart from the black camera bag straps crisscrossing her shoulders, she was as naked as anyone else in the corridor. Cecilia called out to her, and she waved back. Suddenly Cecilia became more concerned about talking to Suzanne than anything else, so she rushed into the locker room and quickly pulled off her clothes. As the cool air hit her bare body, she felt extremely exposed and vulnerable, but she quickly ran out to greet her friend.

Cecilia posed for a snapshot with Jason and Suzanne, the three students standing completely naked arm-in-arm. Only later would Cecilia see a huge irony in the photo, standing as she was between her boyfriend and her one-time lover. Lisa and Ken stood together for another picture, her fit, deeply tanned body contrasting with Ken's somewhat lighter skin. Fortunately the couple had toned down their sexual adventures prior to coming to the event, so Ken's skin was unmarked. Cecilia noticed Ken glancing at her body, and then remembered he had never seen her without her clothes before. The closest he came was that night he saw her in her underwear during the Poker game when she had battled Lisa and narrowly won.

Cecilia's initial unease diminished after a few minutes. While Jason took off to meet with the group organizers, Suzanne recruited her friend to help her with her equipment, carry camera bags, and reload film. Cecilia stuck close to the photographer, grateful to have something to do that kept her mind off the fact she was naked for the first time in her life in front of hundreds of strangers. It also helped that Suzanne was equally naked, looking perfectly at ease as her statuesque body moved about the main conference room.

It was mid Saturday afternoon when the first of two presentations that interested Cecilia was given, the speech by the Danubian Clergy. A severe-looking older man, accompanied by a somewhat younger but equally severe-looking female companion, entered the room. Both were dressed in their religious outfits: a long black robe with a tall hat for him, and a long black dress for her. The dress looked like a typical Danubian formal gown, except the color. Cecilia later learned that the Danubian Clergy had to wear their religious garb whenever performing official duties or representing the Church. That was why, even at a nudist conference, they had to stay dressed.

Cecilia then had the shock of her life. Cynthia Lee followed the priest and priestess onto the stage. She was completely naked. The two representatives of the Danubian Clergy stood at attention while she moved in front of them, knelt, and touched her head to the floor. Then she stood up. The two Clergy members saluted her and she saluted back. It turned out that Cynthia was a convert to the Danubian Church. She really was taking Danubia seriously.

Cynthia and the Priestess took their position at the main podium, while the older man stood behind them. The purpose of the arrangement became evident when the woman started speaking in heavily accented English. Cynthia was there to make sure she could be understood and translate any questions posed by the audience. The Priest was there to back her up if she had any theological doubts, but the presentation would be mainly her show.

The Priestess gave a brief history of the Danubian Church, but quickly moved to the topic of interest to the conference, the role of public nudity in Upper Danubia and how it was viewed by the Clergy.

It turned out the Danubian Church was accepting of nudity under certain circumstances. People performing religious duties such as public penance or ancestral remembrance marches used nudity as a way to distinguish themselves from people living everyday lives. To the Danubian religion, to be naked was to humble oneself before the Creator and the Spirits of the Ancients. The Priestess was well-aware that the attitude of the Danubian Clergy horrified many foreign religious leaders who viewed the uncovered body as something shameful and definitely not something to be openly incorporated as part of the believer's personal atonement. The Danubians, on the other hand, were horrified by other cultures that had placed such a huge emphasis on the fashion industry and the "evil worship of cloth".

To emphasize her point the Priestess held up several glossy fashion magazines.

"This how we the Danubian view the Sin! This the real Sin, the material worship of thing no made by Creator! No made by Creator, but capitalist say we must give much money to company, and we must worship the cloth, no worship the Creator. This...the capitalist Sin!"

With that the Priestess tore the magazines and threw them to the ground. It was a rather shocking display, the Danubian version of a fire-and-brimstone sermon attacking the fashion industry and its materialistic values.

The leaders of the conference had invited the Danubian Church representatives to encourage the conference attendees and reporters covering the event to see the issue of religious morality in a different light. The Priestess's angry tearing of the fashion magazines to emphasize her point certainly caught the attention of the audience and of several reporters filming her. The Danubian priestess was presenting a moralistic and philosophical counter-argument to much of what was being preached in the US about the human body, which was why she was there. She wanted to get her audience to urge the people of the US to re-assess their priorities.

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Jason was at the podium shortly afterwards, with a much more light-hearted portion of the presentation. He was an excellent and very likable speaker. Cecilia watched him with intense interest, wanting to see her boyfriend in action. He commanded the stage and the room, surprising her with his on-stage charisma. He joked with the audience, told amusing antidotes, and confidently moved back and forth between serious thoughts and humorous ones.

Dang...he's good, thought Cecilia to herself as the audience chuckled and clapped.

Jason continued with some jokes about the Tri-Alpha run and gestured to his fellow-runners Ken and Lisa, who were sitting in the audience. A light shined on them as they stood up and waved to the group. Jason's presentation concluded shortly afterwards, to much cheering and applause.

There were other presentations, but Cecilia missed them. Suzanne quickly drafted her to help move some lighting, pulling her away from Lisa and Ken. As she walked down the hallway following her friend, she had time to reflect about how much Jason really was changing. She had known about his changes since the beginning of the spring semester, but now she had actually witnessed it, seeing him perform so well in public. Jason was completely self-confident and clearly enjoyed himself on stage. For half an hour he had captivated a room of nearly 400 people.

It was at that moment, as she walked down the hallway studying Suzanne's bare backside, Cecilia had an awful realization...Jason isn't gonna belong to me after all. It just isn't gonna happen. I'm not gonna be able to have that kind of relationship with him, not with the way he's goin'.

The relationship she had envisioned, where he would be kneeling and meekly obeying her commands...there was no way he would be able to give that to her. His character was too strong.

Cecilia had to reflect on her situation alone. She excused herself from Suzanne and looked for a place she could think in peace for a few minutes. Finally she found an indoor tennis court that was empty and poorly lit. The court reminded her of Jason's mother and the Schmidts' moribund lifestyle, but she pushed that thought aside to deal with her own inner turmoil.

Cecilia realized she was very frightened. She had promised herself that never again would she allow a relationship to take over her life, but now, with Jason, that was precisely what had happened. She had wanted to change him, and indeed did change him, but not into what she had anticipated. The changes in his character were because of her, because she had forced him to overcome his weaknesses and stop hating himself. She had made it impossible for him to fail, because she wanted to create a partner who would not be a loser. She had created a person whom she could respect, showed real potential for success, and could contribute to the world. But in doing all that, she had lost her control over him.

What a huge irony. In trying to control him and mold his character, Cecilia had ended up setting Jason free from his own failings. In setting him free from his own failings, she had made him much more difficult to control. He had accomplished too much, and there were too many other people and events influencing his life, for him to become the meek servant she had wanted back in September.

And yet...and yet...she knew that he still desperately needed her. Without her, he would not be asking the big questions about his life and reassessing the values he had grown up with. Without her, he still would be tormenting himself over the death of Heather Jones and the fact his father held him in such disdain. Without her, he still lacked the drive to pass difficult classes on his own. Without her, his inner inertia would take control of him and make him do nothing.

He still needed her. She knew that if anything were to force them to break up he would be devastated. Not just devastated, but broken. His weaknesses and character flaws, stronger than ever, would return to take over his life and ruin him. She couldn't leave him. She was committed to the relationship and committed to him. She also realized she was committed to changing herself to accommodate her life with him. She had to accept the fact there were things he could teach her and ways over time he might influence her own life and values. Yes, in fact he already had changed her, much more than she previously had realized.

The question she now faced was; how could she let go of her obsessions and fears? How could she accept her life, now that her original plans were so completely undermined? Would she find happiness with him, even though he wasn't going to be the partner she had envisioned? Could she face down the inner terror that had been the root of everything she had done since she was 15, the fear that she once again would have to relinquish control of herself?

I ain't got no control, she kept thinking, I ain't got no control over my life, and that ain't what I wanted. It just ain't what I wanted.

She began having flashbacks, thinking back to a time when she really did feel that she had no control over the direction of her life.

I ain't your fuckin' bitch, Vicente. I just ain't...

Jason burst into the room, looking for her. Seeing her standing alone with a terrified look on her face made him assume that perhaps she had become intimidated by the conference and by being surrounded by so many naked people. However, the conference was the farthest thing from her mind at the moment. She made it very clear that it wasn't the conference that was bothering her. When he asked if there was something he could do for her, she thought for a minute, and finally responded.

"You can hold me, Jason. That's what you can do for me. You can hold me and don't never let go."

For a very long time he did hold her, assuring her that he would be there for her, no matter what. He didn't bother to ask her what was wrong, because he knew she couldn't put it into words. There were things about her he would never understand, but he didn't care.

Finally, she pulled out of her strange mood and kissed him. She gave him that loving look and sarcastic smile, kissed him again, and with that they went out to find the other members of their group.

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The following morning the group headed back to Chicago. They studied during the afternoon, but Jason asked Cecilia to come to his room at 7:00. Cecilia wondered why he would want her over there so early, but she decided to satisfy her curiosity and show up at his door at 7:00.

When she walked in there was a loud "Surprise!" She looked around and noticed a banner reading "Feliz Cumpleaños" and a small cake sitting on Jason's desk, with 20 lit candles burning on its top. Lisa, Ken, and Suzanne, each holding a small gift, accompanied Jason.

Cecilia had forgotten that she was turning 20 that day. It had been such a long time since anyone had celebrated her birthday that she barely noticed the passing of the years in her life. Her birthday simply was another day that came and went, another date on the calendar indistinguishable from any other day. Tonight, on her 20th birthday, that pattern was to be broken. It turned out that Jason had learned her birthday by sneaking a peek at her student ID several weeks before and had told the others, thus allowing them to prepare a small surprise. It wasn't much, just a cake, a banner, and four gifts, but it was more celebrating Cecilia had been given for a birthday since she turned 15.

She was overcome with emotion, because the surprise had been total. Because she never thought about her birthday, she figured no one else would think about it either. She had been wrong about that, since there were four people in the dorm who did care about celebrating her 20 years on the planet.

Jason's gift was something Cecilia actually wanted and had been planning to buy for herself, a Danubian shawl to go with her formal dress. The shawl was made of expensive linen and imported from Upper Danubia. Upon seeing it, he could tell that she was genuinely excited about it and eager to see how it would look with her dress.

Lisa cut up the cake and passed it out, Suzanne took some pictures, Cecilia said thank you to her companions and hugged them, and with that her first birthday party in five years concluded. She escorted Jason back to her room so she could model her new shawl with her dress. To him it was very strange seeing her in her Danubian get-up, because she looked so different in that dress than she did in her normal knee-length skirts and tight blouses.

Cecilia carefully took off her dress and hung it up with her new shawl. Only her thong remained covering her body, and she approached Jason, signaling he would have the honor of lowering it that night. He did so, admiring her flawless dark body. He stood up and hugged her. She pulled back slightly, so he could see her dark eyes and sarcastic smile.

"I'm in my birthday suit, and it's my birthday, and maybe I've been just a bit naughty. So, what are you gonna do about that, Jason? What are you gonna do about it?"

She was breathing heavily and he could feel her heart pounding. She was in a very strange mood, but was obvious what she wanted. She wanted him to celebrate her 20th birthday with a birthday spanking. The moment Jason had waited for had come, the moment she would go over his lap.

To make absolutely sure he understood what she was asking from him, he ran his hands down her back to her bottom. He gently rubbed and patted both sides, very softly mimicking a spanking motion. A sensuous sigh gave him his answer. Yes indeed, she wanted to go over his lap.

He sat down on the bed, reached up, and grabbed her hand. He pulled her across his thighs and positioned her so that her backside was nicely displayed, with her bottom cheeks relaxed and her legs slightly spread. He ran his hand over both sides and gently explored the sensitive skin in between. She sighed again. There was no tightening of her muscles and no hint she would try to resist.

She was ready to be spanked. The only doubt in Jason's mind was how hard she wanted her bottom to be slapped. He already had decided on the number of slaps: 20, since it was to be a birthday spanking.

He continued exploring her right bottom cheek with the palm of his hand, but began building up the tension by patting her soft dark flesh.

"So, are we keeping count, Cecilia?"

"Uh-huh..."

SMACK!... "One!" SMACK!... "Two!"

Jason had landed a crisp slap on each side, and paused to gently caress his target before spanking it again.

SMACK!... "Three!" SMACK!... "Four!" SMACK!... "Five!" SMACK!... "Six!"

He paused to let the sting sink in and change over to a comfortable warm burning. With loving attention he absorbed every detail: the feel of her beating heart, the first smell of her arousal, the sight of her sweaty skin, the sound of her tensed breathing and very faint groans. She was scared and excited, wanting to experience first-hand what Jason was feeling when she put him over her lap. Now it was her turn, and she was loving it.

SMACK!... "Seven!" SMACK!... "Eight!" SMACK!... "Nine!" SMACK!... "Ten!"

He noticed a reddish tint in her brown skin as he gently rubbed her and waited for the stinging to fade into that wonderful burning that so many spanking enthusiasts seek as the fulfillment of sexual desire. He was gentle with her, but firm with his slaps. They had to sting for the experience to be real for her.

"So, how's it feel to be the naughty birthday girl?"

"...Mmmm..."

She smiled slightly and wiggled her bottom to let him know she was ready to continue.

SMACK!... "Eleven!" SMACK!... "Twelve!" SMACK!... "Thirteen!" SMACK!... "Fourteen!"

He continued gently massaging, now expanding his explorations to the very wet region between her legs. He teased her clitoris, but just for a second, just long enough to force her to turn her bottom up in a desperate effort to make contact with his fingers. She was nicely spread, her bottom-hole on full display.

SMACK!... "Fifteen!" SMACK!... "Sixteen!" SMACK!... "Seventeen!" SMACK!... "Eighteen!"

"Well, it looks like we've gotten you through high school. But you know that college has been a lot harder. It's the last two years that really count, don't you think?"

"Uh-huh..."

She sighed as he again brushed her clitoris with his fingertips. Once again she pushed her pelvis upwards, desperately seeking his fingertips with her vagina. Oh...she was so aroused...

SMACK!... "Nineteen!" SMACK!... "Twenty!"

By the twentieth slap she had a nice reddish color in her bottom, which looked truly sexy as it contrasted with the unmarked brown skin of her thighs and back. He kissed the sweaty, warm, swollen skin and was rewarded with a gasp.

"Jason! Take me! Please take me!"

"Not quite, Cecilia. You know good things come to those who wait."

With that he very gently brushed her entire vagina with his fingertips, and then leaned down to kiss her bottom. He made her get up and swept her up in his arms. He gently laid her back on the bed and again brushed her vagina with his fingertips. It was with total desperation that she watched him take off his clothes and slip on a condom. He kissed her, and finally gave her the long-awaited reward, thrusting as she groaned with delight and moved about furiously underneath him. She gasped as the soft burning heat in her bottom warmed her entire soul and filled her with sexual desire. She climaxed, but Jason stayed in long enough to climax a second time. By the time he finished, both of them were completely exhausted.