Fortitude

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place many years ago in the past. It is rather long, but it features many characters who appear in several of my other stories. The FTA, as mentioned in the beginning of the story, stands for Future Teachers of America. As always, if large age differences and butch/femme dynamic is not your thing, please skip this story. For everyone else, I hope you enjoy reading this one!

*****

Patience...you either have it, or you don't.

Patience requires tact; a trait most people require a lifetime to develop. To endure an endless hamster wheel of sleep—eat—work—eat—sleep requires the fortitude of a saint...or a schoolteacher. And for those who persevere without provocation under such grinding boredom and blandness, the rewards can be quite gratifying.

Jude Horst learned the importance of slowing down and savoring the virtues of delayed gratification. As a consequence, she developed the ability to create her own happiness and a better life through her will alone. As the saying goes: No pain, no gain.

It was almost two months into the 2nd semester, and Miss Horst's patience was already wearing dangerously thin. She had been asked to take on a student teacher, and although the girls really seemed to like her, Miss Horst quickly began to wonder if this was a good idea. Lately, the notion of being anywhere near this young lady was beginning to scare the hell out of her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jude Horst realized she'd developed a serious crush on her student teacher. Fortunately, her students seemed to be none the wiser. But still, she had a reputation to uphold. The gymnasium was her classroom and she liked to run a tight ship.

Miss Jude Horst is one of the most respected teachers at Kent Junior High. She is a 44 year old athletic butch woman; a veteran gym teacher who has seen it all. Compared to many of her colleagues in the building, she boasted a tall and lean figure made for long distance running.

Jude, (although people sometimes called her Jud-ee by mistake) was the daughter of an evangelical preacher who had an unusual fascination with Catholic saints. Her given name is St. Jude, but she never told anyone about it except for a few close friends. St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless cases. In a way, she suspected that her parents had hoped for a son instead, and so named her appropriately.

She grew up in Thatcher Blake, attended Talcott High School, and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Blake College. From a young age, she knew she was different. She loved sports and the outdoors, and she always seemed to develop crushes on other girls. It's not that she disliked boys. She just wasn't interested in them.

Miss Horst also bore a striking resemblance to the actress Nancy Kulp from "The Beverly Hillbillies." The tidy short pin curl waves of her graying light brown hair made her look even more like that Jane Hathaway character on TV. Her students noticed it too, and just the other day, a few of her 8th graders began teasing her about it.

But Miss Horst never let it bother her. 7th and 8th grade girls are immature—too wrapped up in outward appearances. It simply went with the territory. Besides, she had bigger problems to worry about. Her student teacher, Kristin Bishoff, was one of them.

She remembered back in November when she received a call from Blake College. It was Monday, just a few days before the Thanksgiving holiday when Dr. Phyllis Dahlgren asked her if she could take on a student teacher for 2nd semester.

"Kristin is a lovely girl, one of our best students!" Dr. Dahlgren boasted. "...treasurer of the FTA, co-captain of the Senior Sportheads, and she gets along with just about everyone she meets!"

What in heaven's name was I thinking, Jude thought. She should've just asked her colleague, Miss Dowd, to take her instead. Of course, Miss Horst just couldn't find it in her to say no. She was the energetic type; a planner and a doer. And when Kristin arrived during that 2nd week in January, she too seemed energetic and pleasant; eager to learn how to strike the perfect balance between comrade and coach.

Jude's face became flush with embarrassment as she recalled the first day when the student teacher sashayed into the girls' PE office and introduced herself. Kristin Bishoff was absolutely gorgeous—a real knockout! The 21 year old college senior had a slender, shapely figure and scorching red hair which was swept up in a ponytail that swished hypnotically from side to side when she walked. At first she seemed shy and demure. But Jude quickly began to realize that Kristin seemed to be a Faustian game-player; a pact-maker, a soul-seller willing to "Go along to get along," as the saying goes.

By the third day, Kristin began flirting with the veteran gym teacher; smiling at her, winking, and teasing her. Miss Horst suspected shenanigans from the get-go. The girl was probably doing it in the hopes of getting a good grade and a possible reference for future employment. Kristin mentioned on a few occasions that she had a boyfriend. Besides, what would such a pretty young thing want with an old dinosaur dyke anyway?

Jude tried to reason with herself that it would never work out even if the girl was truly interested. Although her close friends and a few trusted colleagues were aware of Jude's sexual preferences, the butch gym teacher knew that homosexuality wasn't accepted in polite society. Women were expected to date men and eventually marry and start a family.

When Jude was younger, she tried to believe her attraction to other women was just a phase. Her parents repeatedly told her it was wrong—an affront to God. But somewhere deep inside she knew she was meant to be this way. She remembered after one heated argument when her father told her that one day the right boy would come along and she'd fall in love with him and live happily ever after...just as the Lord intended.

But Jude knew deep down that her father was wrong. She trusted her father's judgement, but she trusted in God's even more. As far as she was concerned, the Lord in his infinite wisdom made her this way. And the Bible plainly states that God never meant for any of his children to go without a suitable companion. She simply needed to serve him and be patient. The "right one" would come along in time.

Still, during that week or so, Kristin's behavior involved a lot more than smiles. That's what bothered Jude so much. Was Kristin really interested in her, or was she simply after an "A" from Dr. Dahlgren? What confused her the most was that Kristin was the one who seemed to be pushing for something to happen, and she couldn't figure out whether she was reading more into the girl's smiles and moves than she intended. Jude never thought she was the type to be so easily manipulated. But it was obvious that Kristin had a hold on her even if it wasn't the girl's true intentions.

Jude realized this after school two days ago. Kristin was about to leave when she asked the girl how she was coming along with her lesson plans.

"Dr. Dahlgren wants you to submit a block plan along with your lesson plans. The block plan isn't due for another week—that'll be when you begin your solo teaching. Think you'll be ready for it?"

Kristin paused at the door for a second. The otherwise radiant winsome smile on her face quickly faded. She looked a little worried.

"Jeez, Miss Horst...I started working on the block plan last night, but Roger and I got kind of sidetracked I guess."

Roger Barber is Kristin's boyfriend. He graduated from Western Illinois last year and moved to Thatcher Blake where he started teaching math over at Walker High. Jude exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes in exasperation. She really wished Kristin would stay on task. The beautiful redhead set her bag down and favored the butch gym teacher with a pleading sort of expression.

"I think I know what to do, but I'm not really sure how to write it out. Roger is no help either! He's always so busy grading papers and stuff...no time for me!"

"Well...I suppose I could look over what you have so far and give you some suggestions." Jude offered. "Are you busy this Saturday? I usually attend bible study in the afternoon. We could meet somewhere for coffee..."

Kristin's face lit up: "Oh, thank you so much, Miss Horst! You're a lifesaver!"

"I wouldn't go that far. And you don't have to be so formal. We're not around any students at the moment. Call me Jude."

The girl replied with a nod, and the gym teacher told her to have a seat. It was right about this time when Jude decided that she was probably reading her right. Lately, Kristin started really complaining about her boyfriend. "He's too busy." She'd say, or "Roger won't be able to see me tonight. He's busy coaching J-V wrestling." She still talked about him a lot, but now her words seemed to carry the faintest whiff of bitter jealousy.

And Miss Horst had been teaching gym classes long enough to know the difference between "red lights and green lights," and she had spent considerable time observing the ways of pretty young ladies like Kristin. For one thing, Jude was a long time member of her women's bible study group. The group is small and secretive, consisting mainly of teachers from different schools in the area. Occasionally some other women would join the group, but their membership was always short lived. Mainly this was due to the fact that sooner or later, they'd find out that just about all of them preferred the company of another woman over a man.

For a second or two, Jude wondered if Kristin already knew this. Just the other day, she saw the girl talking to her colleague, Jane Dowd. Jane wasn't a member of the group, but she knew all about it. Maybe she told the beautiful student teacher, and she decided to string her along for a laugh. On the other hand, Kristin's signals were so strong, so...obvious! She had to know what her signals were doing, and she had to know that it wasn't appropriate. Maybe that's why she was doing it. Kristin was angry at Roger, and she wanted to be chased.

Just looking at Kristin's beautiful face made Jude shiver with anticipation each day she came to work. The butch gym teacher thought about her often since their first meeting. She was a picture in Jude's mind often when she masturbated, and twice when she impaled herself with her dildo, she was embarrassed when the gorgeous girl's name escaped her lips. Damn, this isn't right, Jude thought to herself as her eyes met Kristin's. She glanced down at the desktop for a second, down at her lesson planner, and an idea occurred to her.

"Kristin...I was wondering if you'd feel comfortable taking over 3rd and 7th hours for the rest of the week? I know you've been doing most of the teaching with the 8th graders..."

The 8th grade girls were wrapping up their unit on swimming this week. The girls seemed to really enjoy having Kristin in charge already. Jude needed time to herself, to process these strange feelings she'd developed for the student teacher. Besides, the girl was supposed to start taking over all of the classes next week. It wouldn't hurt her to get started a little early.

"If you don't mind, I'll have you start tomorrow. I'll take care of my 7th graders since they tend to be a little rowdy. How do you feel about that?"

Kristin grinned as she reached over and patted the older woman's arm. "Sure, but I think things might get awfully slippery," she said, with the proper pause to complete the double entendre, "and wet." Then the girl stood up, grabbed her bag, and paused at the doorway.

"Well, I suppose," Jude replied. "No more than usual."

"You sure you really want to leave me in charge of the cee-ment pond, Miss H?" Kristin teased.

Jude seemed to miss the reference. "You'll be okay." She muttered. "Have to start sooner or later."

Kristin replied with a lighthearted giggle and winked at the blushing butch woman. When she was gone, Jude swore she could smell the girl's light floral fragrance clinging to the short sleeve of her shirt.

When she arrived home later that evening, Jude had a light supper before deciding to take a bath. There were two bathrooms in her large Queen Anne style house. The main bathroom on the 2nd floor boasted a large tub perfect for soaking.

As she eased into the hot sudsy water, thoughts of Kristin Bishoff invaded Jude's mind. She thought about how beautiful and innocent she looked, and how jealous she was of Roger Barber even though she'd never met him. Before she knew it, Jude began to fantasize about calling Kristin into the girls' PE office after school and telling her student teacher just how she felt. She'd have to make sure they were alone. She certainly didn't want Miss Dowd (or Janie, as she affectionately called her colleague) to find out.

Soon her thoughts began to take on a life of their own. Jude imagined the two of them alone in her house. Just her and Kristin, the both of them nude and lying on her plush King sized bed...skin against skin. She dreamed of pressing her lips against the girl's creamy white flesh, kissing her breasts, her stomach, and her lovely little mound...

Jude snapped out of her daydream and strained to hear a familiar sound coming from somewhere downstairs. She heaved a gusty sigh, rinsed off, and wrapped a towel around herself before reluctantly getting out of the tub. The phone was ringing. Jude reached over to drain the water. "Wonder who that could be?" She muttered. She wasn't about to find out though.

The phone rang another ten times and stopped. Jude stood there in the bathroom clutching the ends of her towel together before letting it drop to the floor. Her mind was a vortex; whirling with illicit thoughts of her beautiful student teacher. A sudden longing for release pulled her into the master bedroom, and in a matter of minutes, Jude Horst was in bed, bringing herself to orgasm. She bit her lower lip, trying to fight off the urge to cry out, and for a split second, she wondered if Kristin could feel it too.

*****

Jude Horst thought her problems were solved. Kristin would get an early start on her solo teaching block, and Jude could regroup and focus on something other than what she'd like to do to the flirtatious girl—or her boyfriend for that matter. Besides, this would be the perfect opportunity to work on plans for a new weight-loss unit for her 8th grade classes. She affectionately thought of it as LAW, short for "Losers are Winners." Mr. Lindstrom, the PE department head, has a planning period 7th hour. Maybe she could get his ideas on a few games and drills she had in mind.

But not long after Kristin took over teaching the 8th grade girls, trouble started. It was Friday afternoon, 7th hour, the last day of their unit on swimming. Each girl started class using a kick board to swim back and forth across the pool. This was supposed to be followed by the proficiency relay where the girls were supposed to demonstrate the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.

Most of the girls seemed to be doing okay until Perky Sloan ended up pushing Cheryl VanMatre into the pool. Dawn "Perky" Sloan is one of the popular girls; a cheerleader and honor roll student with a little too much class clown mixed in for good measure. Each girl was supposed to wait her turn during the relays, but Perky couldn't pass up a chance to goof off now that old Miss Horst was away.

Cheryl hit the water with a massive splash, soaking a few of the girls standing at the edge of the pool cheering on their classmates.

"Hey!" Cheryl sputtered. "Goddamn it! When I find out who pushed me..."

"Aw, Perky knock it off!" Renee Gustafson whined. The mousy looking brunette peered over her shoulder. "Miss Bishoff just saw that! Now you're gonna get us all in trouble!"

Perky scoffed: "Trouble? Who cares? What's Miss Bitch-off gonna do anyway? She's just a student teacher!"

The cacophony of splashing, giggles, and high-pitched shrieks was disorienting, but Kristin's ears started burning the second she heard that flippant remark. The student teacher marched towards Perky. Her face was almost as red as her hair.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

Perky managed to feign ignorance. "Huh? I just said you're a student teacher!"

Cheryl scrambled out of the pool. "Ugh! My eyes! I got chlorine in my eyes—It buurrns!" She yelped, burying her face in her arm.

For a split second, a worried look crossed Perky's face.

"Take that!" Cheryl cried as she snatched Perky's arm and shoved her into the pool. "The oldest trick in the book, and look who fell for it!"

This was followed by another terrific splash. Seconds later, Perky bobbed to the surface. "I'll get you for that, Cheryl!" She shouted.

By now, Kristin was blowing her gym whistle and waving her arms in a comical attempt at restoring order. "Girls, that's enough!" She shouted.

None of the other girls uttered a word while the student teacher stood poolside with her arms folded, glaring at Perky who remained in the deep end treading water near two of her classmates. Cheryl just looked down at her feet and shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"It looks like you all have had a little too much sugar during lunch!" Kristin said wryly. Cheryl stole a quick glance at the student teacher. Was there a faint hint of amusement in her voice?

A girl named Tracy raised her hand as if she wanted to ask a question. "Cheryl wasn't in on it, Miss Bishoff, honest!"

"I'm not interested in who was in on it." Kristin's voice sounded a little terse. She frowned and glanced up at the clock. "We've only got about eight more minutes of class. We might as well wrap things up a little early. Hit the showers, everyone!"

The student teacher headed over to the small row of bleachers to retrieve her clipboard after the girls had left. She never realized that for most of the hour, Miss Horst had been observing her...

*****

Back in the girls' PE office, Miss Horst was all business. Kristin stuck her head in the door and softly knocked. The butch gym teacher glanced up and signaled for the student teacher to come inside and have a seat. She was busy writing something out. It looked like some sort of triplicate form.

"Come on in and have a seat." Jude said. "Close the door behind you."

The gorgeous redhead watched as the older woman continued writing. "Sorry I didn't realize you were busy, Miss Horst—I mean—Jude. If you want, I can come back later."

"Umm...you didn't interrupt a thing." Jude replied. "I've just finished writing up your first evaluation."

"Ughh!" Kristen groaned. Her voice cracked a little and her cheeks suddenly turned bright pink.

Jude seemed unfazed. "For a moment or two, I thought you were starting to lose control of the class. What happened?"

Kristin looked mortified. "You—you were watching the class?"

"I'm sure that Dr. Dahlgren made it clear that you would be observed from time to time." Jude replied. Her expression softened a little. "Just relax, Kristin. Nobody expects you to be perfect the first time!"

The student teacher stared down at her lap. "A couple girls started horsing around and Cheryl VanMatre got pushed into the pool."

Jude began writing again. "That's something you'll have to work on." The veteran gym teacher paused and looked up at Kristin, making eye contact. "Every day you come into the classroom, you'll have to watch out for the small fires...keeps things from turning into utter chaos!"

"Sorry about that, Miss Horst." Kristin replied. "It's just that...Dawn Sloan pushed Cheryl and then she called me Miss Bitch-off!"

Jude suppressed a sudden urge to burst out laughing. "Well, it sounds like you've arrived, young lady."

"What?"

"Means the girls see you as their teacher, that's all. But try not to let it get to you. I mean—some of them think I look like that character from 'The Beverly Hillbillies.'"