Here was Heather, the innocent college freshman, in the middle of the quad, handcuffed and on her knees, the whole university staring at her. Her short, curly brown hair flapped in the wind as it framed her gentle, white face, and her small body looked even more vulnerable in its position. All 5,000 students at the school were staring at her excitedly, drawing lots to see who would have possesion of her first.
Possession of her..... The words passed through her head like smoke. Even now, she couldn't believe how it had happened. She went over the process of events in her mind.
It had started when she got rejected for the scholarship that she needed for her education. She desperately wanted to go to college and become a successful woman, but she couldn't afford it. Well, thankfully, her older brother was a computer whiz. He showed her how she could hack the system and get herself a scholarship. So she enrolled at the university, agreeing to pay, and formulating her plan. She was so immensely nervous; hell, she had never even lied before, let alone stole money! But it was all she could do.
A week or so went by and it looked as though Heather had gotten away with it....until she found a summons from the student judiciary committee in her mailbox. It said that they knew about her tampering. Her heart stopped. Her hands went sweaty. What were they going to do to her? She read on.
The letter said that she had two options: she could either accept the sentence of the student judiciary committee or be turned over to the police. Thank God, she thought, the cops won't get me. They'll probably kick me out of college, but at least I won't be going to jail.
The next day, she appeared before the judiciary committee and told them that she was prepared to accept their sentence. The five student judges smiled and told her she had made the right decision. The chief judge extended a folded slip of paper to her. As she went to reach it, he stopped her momentarily. "Remember," he said, "the moment you fail to comply with this, we call the police and report you." She nodded, and took the paper.
She pretty much knew it was expulsion at the worst, but still, her small fingers trembled as they tore the seal. She went powder white as she read the words printed on the page. How could they? This couldn't be. They couldn't do this. It was wrong. It was disgusting. She was almost in tears reading it.
It said: "Your tampering could have cost every student at this college thousands of dollars in misplaced scholarships, financial aid, and lost tutition checks. Therefore, you will make it up to every student individually. You will be the slave of each student for 24 hours at a time. The order will be determined by lottery. Be ready in one week."
That week dragged slowly and painfully. At first, she could barely even sleep. Then she began to calm herself down when she realized that she'd at least have a home, and plenty of people make a living with cooking, cleaning, and some of the other menial tasks she would have to perform.
Then it hit her. What if the boys wanted sex? Good God, she thought, I can't do that! I'm saving myself for marriage. Heather had only once seen a penis, when she accidentally walked in on her brother changing. And to do the things that guys would want from her.... Well, 60% of the campus was female, and at least they wouldn't want those kinds of things, she thought.
No matter how much she tried to calm herself down, her heart still beat like crazy as she was kneeling down in the middle of campus. The students were drawing lots, numbered 1-5000. The student who got #1 would have her the first day, #2 would have her the next day, and so on. She just wanted to get this over with quickly. She needed to know who it would be.
After some time (she had no idea how long) the ballots were all dispersed and the students were told to open them. From somewhere at the far end of the quad, somebody was shouting, "I've got #1! I've got #1!" Heather recognized the voice immediately. |