Stacy was not surprised to see Neil standing at the fountain as she entered thepark. The blonde teenager had quickly realized last night that the note musthave come from him. He was the only person who knew about her cheating, and hewas the only person who could have taped their meeting. The question was: whatdid he want from her to keep quiet about it? The answer, unfortunately, was notdifficult to figure out. She could see the way he watched her as she approachedthe fountain. The way his eyes played over the curves on her body, undressingher. Stacy shuddered. She did not find him attractive - he was tall andpainfully thin, with long greasy hair and an unpleasant complexion - but hadmade up her mind the previous night that she would do anything - almostanything - to get the tape back, including sleeping with him. Anything to keephim quiet. She was afraid, however, that this was exactly what she was going tohave to do.

"Stacy," he greeted her as she approached. He was smirking.

"I thought it would be you," she spat out, unable to hide the anger and hatredin her voice. "What do you want?"

"Why, Stacy," he feigned surprise and hurt, "is that any way to greet yourpartner in crime? You seemed happy enough to see me a couple of weeks ago…when you needed the exam paper." The tall teenager sat himself down on a benchand patted the space next to him, gesturing for her to take a seat next to him.

"Fuck you," she blurted out. "I want that tape." She couldn’t believe he hadthe nerve to treat her like this. She fought down the urge to slap thatobnoxious smirk off his ugly face; there was time for that later.

Neil just smiled slightly and again patted the place next to him on the bench."I don’t think that that’s a very helpful attitude," he said mildly. "Why don’tyou just sit yourself down right here, and we’ll have a little chat about it."

She just stared at him angrily.

"After all," he continued, "it wouldn’t do to be seen arguing in public.Someone might ask why."

Torn between anger and fear, Stacy hesitated for a few moments more, butfinally gave in and sat down beside him. She tensed up as he put his right armaround her shoulder, but didn’t pull away. She hoped no one could see themtogether; it would be impossible to explain this to her friends at school.

"That’s better," he said smoothly. "Now we can talk."

She turned slightly towards him, ignoring the condescending tone of his voice.Anger had won out over the fear, if only briefly. "You know what I want, youfucker. You tricked me. I want that tape back, and I want you to shut yourfucking mouth about the whole thing, you asshole…"

She was stunned into a shocked silence as he brought his left hand around andslapped her across the face. It wasn’t particularly hard, but it was surprisingand humiliating. She brought her hand up to her stinging cheek and started topull away, but Neil held her close. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"First thing, Stace," he told her quietly. "Don’t swear at me, or even in mypresence. It makes you sound cheap. Do you understand?"

Dumbly, she nodded her head as the tears began to flow down her cheeks. Thehumiliation at being talked to like this was even worse than being slapped.What was he doing to her?

When he saw her nod, he relaxed his hold, but still kept his arm around her.The cheek he had slapped was starting to turn red, so he leaned forward andkissed it. Stacy tensed and started to tremble, but she didn’t pull away."There, there," he said soothingly, as he brought his hand up to wipe the tearsoff her cheeks, "Is that better?"

Trembling, she nodded.

"Fine," Neil leaned back on the bench. "Now we can talk. As you know, I haveevidence that could fuck you up at Greenwood. I don’t want to use it like that,but I will if I have to."

"If you give out that tape," she argued, regaining some control (but still notpulling away from his encircling arm), "you’ll be expelled too. I’ll leteveryone know who sold me the exam. We’d go down together." She had thought ofthat argument last night, while tossing and turning in bed.

Neil just shrugged. "You can try," he answered. "But I don’t know if anyonewill believe you. My voice can’t be recognised on the tape and I have friendswho will be willing to swear that I was somewhere else that Friday. Besides, Ialmost failed the test; who’ll believe I had the questions ahead of time?" Hefell silent for a moment and looked at her. "And even if I do get expelled,it’s no big deal; people expect it of me. It’s your reputation that matters."

He was right. Stacy began to cry again, and was forced to suffer thehumiliation of Neil again brushing the tears from her cheeks. "S-so, what doyou want, then?" She was defeated. She would give him what he wanted.

"You," came the expected answer. "For just one night. Tomorrow night. I wantyou to make love with me and act as though you like it. After, I’ll give youthe only copy I have of the tape."

Stacy began to tremble again as he said this, but she was not particularlyshocked. Here, she was on familiar ground; most of the boys at school wantedthe same thing of her, and she was used to dealing with their desires. As well,she had expected something like this, and it could have been a hell of a lotworse. She didn’t find Neil attractive, and almost gagged at the thought ofhaving sex with him, but she was certainly not a virgin. And one night wasn’tforever. It would be unpleasant, but it would be over with quickly, and shewould never have to talk to him again. And, once she had the tape…

Stacy was careful, however, not to let her thoughts show. No need to let thisasshole know that she was not as scared as she seemed. "And you’ll give me thetape?" she asked quietly.

"Sure."

"How do I know that you won’t keep a copy of it and blackmail me again?"

"You don’t," came the simple answer. "But I swear on my mother’s grave that Iwill not use the tape to blackmail you again." She looked doubtful, but he justshrugged. "That’s the best I can do."

"Just one night?"

Neil nodded.

"And it’ll be a secret, right? You won’t tell anybody?" This was crucial. Ifanyone ever found out that she had slept with Neil French, whatever the reason,she would be ruined at school. It would be even worse than being caughtcheating.

Once again, Neil nodded. "No one will have to know," he told her.

Stacy fell silent for a few moments and then nodded her agreement. She hadstopped trembling and seemed thoughtful. "OK," she agreed, finally, "I’ll doit. Just one night. And no one knows."

"Right." Neil could barely keep himself from laughing out loud. If only sheknew what they had planned for her! "Show up at my place tomorrow night at7:00. Can you find it?"

"I have a student directory," she answered, "I’ll find it." She pulled away toget up and leave, but Neil held her close.

"Don’t I get a goodbye kiss?" he asked her. "To keep me until tomorrow?"

Fighting down an urge to vomit, she allowed herself to be pulled toward him andpressed her lips to his. Her hands hanging limply at her side, she tried tokeep her mouth shut, but his tongue was insistent, and was soon exploring theinside of her unwilling mouth. His breath smelled like smoke and she almostgagged.

"Just one night," she told herself, as he drew the kiss out until it was morelike necking than a single kiss.

Finally, he released her. Gasping, she staggered to her feet and hurried off.

"Until tomorrow then," he called after her.

Sharon squeezed herself into the back of closet, trying as best she could tomake herself comfortable in the pile of clothing Neil had laid out for her.From where she sat, she had an unobstructed 3/4 view from the head of Neil’sbed. She peered through the viewfinder of her father’s video camera. "Looksgood," she reported to Gary, as he watched from where he sat on the side of thebed. "As long as the lights stay on, I should have no trouble with the filming.It’s kind of tight in here, though."