"Bullshit!" Stacy yelled. "How is this fair? I never made anybody do anything! You can go ask every damn girl I've ever been with, they'll all tell you as much!"
The dean nodded. "That's true. For all your other faults, you never forced yourself on someone. And that's why we didn't simply erase the old you from existence. It's why Tiffany is still pregnant; we want her to learn to deal with the consequences of her actions. We're not in the business of handing out get-out-of-trouble-free cards here."
He stood up and began pacing around the room. "But the issue isn't what you didn't do, it's what you did do. What you have done is bail on every girl you get involved with. Even if we discount the ones to whom you never gave the impression that they were more than a one-night stand, you have left a long trail of broken hearts in your wake. And not only does that have a direct, measurable impact on their academic performance, it's a despicable thing to do."
"But why me?" Stacy snapped. "Lots of guys do that! How come I'm the one getting the shitty end of the stick?"
"As I told you at the start," the dean said, "we're dealing with you because you are an exceptional case. Yes, some other boys in this school might dump one or two girlfriends after getting in their pants; it's still an awful thing to do. But nobody in the history of this school has engaged in a campaign of lay-and-ditch heart-breaking like yours. To be honest, we half-considered setting you up with a boyfriend just so you could experience what it's like, but as I said, we want everything that happens to you as Stacy to be your own fault."
"Then I haven't...?" Stacy hadn't really even thought about it until now. Ms. Fletcher shook her head. "No. Stacy Farber is exactly like you in most ways; an average student, somewhat athletically-inclined, and so on. But she's never had sex, or even had a boyfriend. Whether she does or not is entirely up to you."
Stacy didn't know what to say. What could she say? They were bound and determined to keep her like this, and it didn't look like anything she could say or do would change that. She stood there indecisively; for all her smooth-talking skill when it came to getting girls in the sack, she couldn't come up with any kind of argument she thought would have any chance of persuading them.
"Your class will be starting soon, Miss Farber," the dean said. "You should probably get going."
Stacy sighed, hung her head, and walked out of the room.
Jon was hanging out in the hall, waiting for class to start, when he overheard some of the other guys talking about girls. This was normal of course, and he wasn't really paying attention until one name caught his interest.
"Dude," one of the guys said, "what about Stacy Farber?"
"Yeah, I'd hit that," one of the others replied.
"I dunno, man," a third interrupted. "She's kinda...I dunno, average. I mean, she's not bad, but it's not like she's got anything exceptional in the T&A; department."
"Eh, you're too damn picky, that's your problem. I mean, yeah, she's not a major babe, but if you think of her as kind of a curvier Twiggy, you see it differently."
"Pff, you're just a dork. But I hear that she's never even had a boyfriend. Are we sure she's not a lesbian?"
"Well, she's never had a girlfriend, either, so who the hell knows?"
Jon walked over by the group that was doing the talking. "Stacy Farber?" he interrupted. "I didn't know Steve had a sister."
The boys stared at him. "Steve?"
"Yeah," he said. "Steve Farber?"
They broke into laughter. "No, dude. Farber, not Harker. Besides, he moved out of town, remember?"
Jon walked away, musing. Steve Harker was the school's Don Juan? But when he'd been called from class that morning, Jon had distinctly heard "Farber..." Hmm. He wondered if his wish for something interesting to happen had anything to do with this. He could just wish to find out, of course, but he'd left the stone at home. He'd have to look into this when he got home from school.
Jon went to his next class, but it wasn't one of the ones he shared with Steve. He was idly wondering what the deal with Steve might be when the P.A. came on again. "Jason Alder, please report to Room 21."
Jon wondered what was going on in Room 21 today. He began to wonder if he should look into this...
