Meanwhile, above the heads of the assembled Jocks and slightly to the left, so soft as to be inaudible to all but the keenest of ears, and even then only when you knew what you were listening for, there was a whirring as of a camera zooming out. This was probably because of the secret camera that the Computer Club had installed in there a couple of weeks prior.
=*=*=*=
There is a persistent cliche that states that high school boys are always trying to see inside the girl's locker room. It's persistent largely because it's true, but it largely ignores the fact that the same logic should apply to girls trying to get into the boy's locker room.
With this bit of info in mind, the horny, straight boys of the Computer Club had made a deal with their horny, straight female counterparts: the boys would set up a secret camera for viewing the well-hung jocks, and the girls would set up its twin for viewing busty cheerleaders.
It was an amicable arrangement, and was currently being enjoyed by four of the club's members: Susan, Maria, Allison and Gavin(who, as the club's only gay member, had gotten the most reward for least risk out of the camera arrangement). At least it had been, until Simon had been dragged in. Now the four were staring, shocked, horrified; a little horny, yes, but mostly shocked.
Allison recovered first, and shook Gavin from his reverie. He looked at her, scared, because Simon, now Brandon, had been one of his best friends.
"Allison, what do we do? Simon-"
"Stop. Listen, Gavin. You run fastest; go to the Drama department and tell Matthew what happened."
Now the other two came around; their eyes, and Gavin's, now held a hint of respect, fear, and beneath that, hope. Maria glanced at the screen.
"Do you think he can help?"
"I don't know, Maria. But he needs to know. Gavin, go."
=*=*=*=
They say that for every action there is a reaction.
In the auditorium, the Drama Club were preparing for the spring semester play, by tradition a musical. This year, it was the "Lion King". It's only mid-autumn, so the sets are barely begun, but the cast are already rehearsing the play. Drama geeks choreograph the dances, work on sets and costumes, and recite lines. And at the center of it all stands Matthew, their alpha geek. In almost every way, he is every inch Mark's counterpart, performing all the functions for the school's geeks that the football captain had thought he was filling for the school's jocks. But whereas Mark had antagonized his underlings, Matthew had the intelligence to pull off a Machiavellian rule: some geeks loved him, others feared him, but none had cause to hate him.
He was a goth, for the most part. Pale skin, lots of jewelry, a long black coat, long hair, but blonde, bucking the black trend. As student director, he'd cast himself as Scar in the production, and was currently sporting the walking stick that was part of his eventual costume. He was rehearsing his big number when Gavin ran in through the side door. Some of the students who weren't busy were watching from the stands; Matthew could have harried them back to work, but his primary flaw was his vanity.
"I've never thought hyenas essential. They're crude, and unspeakably plain. But maybe they've a glimmer of potential, if allied to my-"
"Mr. Matthew! Sir!"
Matthew rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Take five everyone. Gavin, you don't have to call me 'mister' or 'sir', although if you're going to be interrupting rehearsals regularly, the groveling should probably stay. What do you want?"
Gavin looked afraid, and he leaned in to speak quietly to Matthew.
"Um, you know about the computer club's...arrangement?"
Matthew quirked a brow, and whispered back.
"Your little peak-a-boo cams? What about them?"
"We, ah, think there's something you should see."
The quirked brow remained raised, and indeed rose a bit more.
"I suspect this is something a bit more than a jock's schlong going on, Gavin. Let's go, you'll be explaining on the way. And it had better be good, Gavin..."
Gavin gulped and paled.
=*=*=*=
Matthew watched the playback for the third time, chewing on his especially long thumbnail as he looked over Allison's shoulder at the screen. He mumbled to himself while he watched.
"Hypnosis can indeed produce results, occasionally even this dramatic...but only over extended periods of time...That watch...I recall seeing something like it...Hmm."
Allison looked back at him, worried. She'd been angling to get Simon to ask her out. She may have found jocks sexy, but she'd been friends with Simon since kindergarten, and had a crush on him for years.
"Well, Matthew? What are going to do about Simon?"
"Mm. Simon, ha, no, Brandon, is fine where he is."
Allison looked aghast.
"Ha. Dear Allison, don't worry, we'll have your little loverboy Simon back soon. But you're forgetting your Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates: 'Pillage, THEN burn.' Right now, we need two things. First, we should send someone to collect our poor little Mar-ha, no, Walter. And then..."
Matthew's grin was frankly terrifying.
"...And then, WE get that watch."