The Debt: Epilogue

[*Lady Lucia*]

Detention. Detention!

Elizabeth Miller was livid. She had never so much as been given a verbal warning before, and now she had to give up her free period to sit with a bunch of delinquents. It was total bullshit.

One of her girlfriends, Leah, had been in charge of buying concert tickets for their friend group, and hadn’t noticed she had been sold fakes until it was way too late. Suddenly saving a few bucks by avoiding the obnoxious online fees ended up costing them all a lot more. Not only were the real tickets sold out by the time someone noticed the little tells that revealed the tickets as forgeries, but now they were all out $200 or so for nothing.

Lesson learned.

Most of them shrugged it off. They were more annoyed at missing the concert than losing their parents’ money, and Leah felt so bad about screwing up that none of them got on her case to make it worse for her. Except Sarah.

The bitter girl had ambushed Leah at her locker, demanding to be repaid. Unlike most of them, she had ponied up her own money for the concert. If Sarah had taken a more diplomatic approach, then they all could have figured it out. But whatever mood she had been in that morning had made Leah a target, and Sarah wanted her money NOW.

Leah kept saying she’d figure it out, but she didn’t have that kind of cash on hand. So Sarah demanded Venmo next, only for Leah to say the same thing. Her bank account wasn’t exactly flush with cash. They were all sophomores in high school, so most of them only had so much of their own money lying around, while parents tended to pay for the rest.

Finally, Elizabeth stepped in. “Hey!” Adding another voice to an argument rarely helped things, but Leah’s logic clearly wasn’t speaking to Sarah’s frustration. When Sarah stepped a little too close, Elizabeth rushed in and shoved the two girls apart. “Enough!” Money wasn’t worth their friend group getting into a mountain of drama. “Sarah-”

And that’s as far as she got. Some teacher walking by hadn’t witnessed the initial argument, but he had seen Liz shoving both the girls. Sarah saw her chance, and immediately identified her as “Elizabeth Miller” to the teacher none of them had even had before. Before Leah could defend her, the teacher wrote Liz up for the physical outburst and gave her detention.

A few hours later, Liz found herself walking to detention instead of one of her usual free period haunts. She was still fuming at not only Sarah, but the fact that her perfect record would be marred by this punishment. And of all days to wear a tank top. Such an outfit was fine amidst her friends that she was more comfortable with, but sitting amongst the kinds of boys that earned themselves detention sounded less than ideal.

Taking a deep breath, she walked through the classroom door.

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART ONE

Jade couldn’t believe her eyes.

Of all people, Elizabeth was walking into detention. Well, Liz, but Jade never called non-friends by nicknames. And Elizabeth was just one of those girls in her grade that irritated her. Not for any specific reason. Jade just disliked most people who didn’t fall into a decisive clique, and Elizabeth was one of those straight arrows who was just a, well, normal girl.

Which was no fun at all.

Jade, by contrast, was borderline goth. Not overtly so, but she appreciate dark colors on herself, and wore them almost exclusively. She was artsy, but that was usually overshadowed by her troublemaking streak. No respect for authority, a tiny bit slutty when she was in the mood, and never one to back down from a challenge.

So when she saw the uncolored brunette hair and the girly pink tank top, Jade’s devious mind went into overdrive. What better chance would she have to mess with an unadventurous girl than in detention? It was basically Jade’s home turf. Thinking quickly, she tapped the familiar boy’s shoulder in front of her. “Luke, move to the back!” she hissed. Mrs. Garcia was a vigilant tyrant, and Elizabeth’s entrance would only serve as a distraction for so long.

“What? No.” Luke barely turned his head. Ever the deviant himself, he knew better than to look like he was talking with someone under the strict teacher’s watch. Like Jade, he kept his voice down, discreetly watching the conversation between Mrs. Garcia and the new brunette at the front of the room.

“Come on!” Jade impatiently patted just below his shoulder. Yet another move that she knew was out of any teacher’s eye line. Fuck it. She only had seconds. “If you move, I’ll blow you after school.”

She meant it. It’s not like it would mean anything, and she was always a girl of her word.

Jade knew she had him when he actually turned his head to glance at her for a second. “Seriously? Why?”

“Does it matter?” she winked, “Move now, or it’s not happening.”

Luke immediately scooped up his belongings from the desk in front of him and hopped up, immediately catching Mrs. Garcia’s eye. “Mr. Wilson?”

“Erm, sorry, Mrs. Garcia,” he said, “Do you mind if I move to the window? I could use a little fresh air.”

Jade had to cover her mouth in order to stifle a laugh. Maybe it was a spur of the moment lie, but she liked to think that it was more that he needed to cool off before he got visibly ‘excited’ from her little offer.

Mrs. Garcia just waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, go ahead.”

Thank God. Jade knew it had been a coin toss. On the one hand, detention hadn’t technically started yet. But on the other hand, it was Mrs. Garcia. She could have just as easily insisted that he stay put. And, as Luke shuffled towards the back of the room, the next words out of the teacher’s mouth were music to Jade’s ears. “Ms. Miller, you can take his chair.”

Detention had pretty regimented rules about desks. The students sat in columns, with a line of empty desks between each one. That made it impossible to pass anything side to side, and attempting to do so from front to back would be far more noticeable. When possible, there would also be empty rows, but today was a more full detention day.

Though mostly an effective system, it had some weaknesses. Any clever teenager could find ways to be discreet about whispering and note passing, though infamous pairs or trios would always be separated throughout the classroom to avoid such communication. Jade and Elizabeth, however, were not a pair. They barely knew each other, and Jade’s forming plan certainly didn’t involve note passing. It was way more fun than that.

Well, fun for Jade, at least.

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART TWO

Liz had a plan of her own: keep her head down.

The moment the bell rang to signify the official start of what would normally be her free period, she just kept quiet and pulled out an AP assignment to work on. Technically, detention was the same thing as a study hour with the right mindset. A chance to get a head start on homework. It just lacked the freedom to work wherever she pleased, as well as the knowledge that she sat amongst students she normally looked down on.

Three quiet minutes passed after the bell, and then Liz felt it. Feminine fingers slipping underneath both the strap of her tank top and the strap of her bra. Her eyes widened when she felt the right half of her outfit loosen. “Hey!” she quickly gripped her top before it had the chance to slip down, and whipped her head around just in time to see the black haired girl slip a small pair of scissors under her dark top with a knowing smile.

The delinquent girl CUT her clothes?!

Aside from how insulting and insensitive it was, clothes weren’t cheap. Especially bras. But before Liz could even express her displeasure, a sharp voice from the front of the room called out to her.

“Ms. Miller! Turn around, right now. Read the board while you’re at it.”

By the time Mrs. Garcia had begun speaking, Jade’s little grin had faded back into a bored expression. Just a girl doing her usual time in detention. Liz turned back forward, and was greeted with the teacher at the front of the room pointing to the ‘NO TALKING’ rule written on the board.

Still clutching half her top, Liz tried to explain without actually showing the part of her chest that would be exposed to everyone else glancing her way now that she had raised her voice and brought attention to herself. “But, she-”

Unfortunately, protecting her modesty was the very thing that kept the regular detention teacher from seeing what was going on.

“That’s another day of detention for you, Ms. Miller.” Mrs. Garcia said. To punctuate her words, she flicked her wrist and marked something down in the open binder on her desk. “This may be your first time here, but don’t think for a second that means you’re above the rules.” Liz felt her cheeks heat up when a handful of students snickered at the ‘good girl’ being chastised, but Mrs. Garcia was just as swift to shut them down. “That goes for the rest of you!” she snapped, glaring across the room of students and silencing all of them at once. “Rules are rules, Ms. Miller. Do you have a problem with that?”

Liz meekly shook her head, casting her gaze back down towards the assignment on her desk. This wasn’t happening to her! Some goth girl messing with her just because it was her first time in detention? It was . . . Jamie? Jane . . . Jade! They shared one or two classes, but there was no bad blood between them. Liz had hardly ever talked to the dark-clad girl.

Whatever. Liz sure as hell wouldn’t give Jade the satisfaction of causing more days of detention to stack up against her. That was probably Jade's rude plan, or maybe she just liked ruining perfectly good outfits.

Regardless, Liz’s parents would kill her if they found out. Keeping one detention quiet was possible. Well, now two detentions. But getting too many would be noted and brought up at the next parent teacher conference. Or in a letter sent home. Or a phone call.

*Snip*

‘Oh my God!’ Liz gasped as Jade did the exact same thing to the remaining straps on both tank top and bra. With nothing to hold them up, her upper garments threatened to slide down and reveal her boobs, and Liz swiftly used both arms to firmly clutch the loose fabric over her chest.

What was she supposed to do?! Speaking or standing up would just result in her getting chastised before she could even explain the situation. The most practical thing to do would be to just blurt out the truth about her clothes being ruined. Whether she could pin it on Jade or not, not even a strict teacher like Mrs. Garcia would force a girl to sit with ruined clothes. But Liz wasn’t thinking logically. She was worried about getting another detention, and worried about the whole room laughing at her plight if she said it for all to hear. Not to mention worried about one slip up revealing her bare chest when others were looking. So she just sat there, suddenly self aware of how clutching her chest looked a little odd, but also unwilling to remove either arm.

Jade just sat there with a tiny smirk. Elizabeth Miller, mildly exposed. It was only a few straps’ difference, but the sight of the girl’s bare shoulders was still amusing. None of this was planned, but it was easy for Jade to come up with the next step of her improvisatory plan once the small pair of scissors were safely stashed back in her bra. She reached into her art bag and pulled out another fun item not normally designed for embarrassing girls.

Palming a little tube of the strongest and fastest drying glue she had, Jade discreetly shifted her arm beyond the drawing notebook on her desk with a smirk, poising her hand to pour the adhesive in a way that would make Elizabeth’s eventual escape attempt a little more difficult.

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART THREE

Jade rested her wrist on the back of Liz’s chair and, without any hesitation, began pouring.

Ideally, glue would work best on someone’s pants if it was applied to the seat before they sat down, but Jade didn’t have that opportunity. Instead, she gently squeezed on the tube, letting it drizzle down between the plastic chair and the jeans covering Elizabeth’s ass. The stuff was strong enough that it wouldn’t take much glue or much time, meaning Elizabeth wouldn’t feel it seeping through her pants or anything. Still, Jade was skeptical about the limited surface area. So after pouring a reasonable portion of the stuff down, she ran her nails over Elizabeth’s bare upper back, just above the brunette’s loose top.

Liz immediately squirmed from the feeling, not knowing that doing so just worked the glue farther down underneath her as she shifted in her seat. She was still very much wrapped up in her own swirling thoughts of what to do, and had already begun leaning towards the idea of just sucking it up for the next forty minutes. As long as Jade didn’t do anything worse. But then the goth girl began touching her bare skin, once again in a way that the teacher wouldn’t notice.

That’s it. She needed to find a way out.

Unfortunately for her, Jade was no longer the only one intent on making her mortifying situation difficult to deal with.

From his vantage point in the back seat, Luke had been watching Jade cut at Liz’s clothes from the moment she pulled the scissors out. Right when the preppy girl sat down, he figured out why Jade would want him to give up his seat. His soon to be outdoor promiscuous partner had something fun in mind for the detention first timer. And so far, Jade hadn’t disappointed. Though he couldn’t see the looseness of the pink tank top over Liz’s chest, he could only imagine things would get worse for the girl before they got better.

No one else would have noticed the girl’s misfortune yet, as Jade made sneaking look like an art form. Both cuts with the scissors were done in a natural upward motion from her sketchpad, where Jade continued the movement afterwards — one hand to brush back her short dark hair, the other to ‘adjust’ her shirt while slipping the scissors down into her bra. Luke only noticed because he was already watching the scene with amused curiosity.

And, when he saw what Jade was up to with the glue, he decided to help Jade out. Maybe she’d give him another little something once she learned how he assisted her.

Skilled in the art of discreet note passing, Luke dropped a note into the seat in front of him. He made sure to tap the boy’s back with a sharp corner of the paper before dropping it down and letting it rest between pants and chair like Jade’s glue. The boy sitting there, Noah, wasn’t necessarily a friend, but they at least respected each other as frequent detention visitors. All the note said was ‘Twenty bucks if you leave with the bathroom pass.’ To prove his seriousness about it, Luke had folded a $10 bill into the note, implying that Noah would get the other half if he followed through.

Sure enough, Noah didn’t question it. Money was money, and it’s not like he had anything to lose. Once he subtly retrieved and read the folded note from underneath himself, Noah raised his hand and asked for permission, promising to be quick. Mrs. Garcia gave a stern ‘if you must,’ reply, and Noah was gone. If a student used the bathroom as a means to escape detention, it would just land them back there the next day, so trying to abuse it was a bit pointless. The only rule was ‘one student at a time,’ to avoid any trouble that pairs might get into.

However, as all Meadows High students knew, the ‘one student at a time’ rule was school-wide, not just for detention. Which meant when Noah grabbed the pass from Mrs. Garcia’s desk, Liz knew right then that she would have to wait. Still clutching her top, she impatiently watched the clock.

One minute. Two minutes.

She didn’t know the boy who left, but suddenly his return was the most important thing to her. Liz looked back and forth from the clock and the door, no longer able to focus on the AP assignment in front of her. Ever since the boy left, Jade hadn’t done anything else to her. And it was kind of unnerving. The two scissor cuts and the goosebump-eliciting nails on her skin had all been back to back, and now . . . nothing? It’s not that Liz wanted to be further targeted, but the lack of action made her more worried than relieved.

Jade leaned back in her seat, watching the clock as well. She actually hadn’t counted on the lull making Elizabeth sweat. Jade was just focused on making sure the girl sat still for a few minutes while the glue dried, and leaving her alone was the best way to achieve that. At the three minute mark, she subtly reached her hand into her bra and pulled out the scissors again.

This next part was going to be tricky. Jade didn’t know for sure if she would get the whole task done. Elizabeth was an unfamiliar target, and she very well might freak out at any given moment. Or she could stay paralyzed in mortification. Hopefully, the latter.

Leaning forward, Jade slipped her hand underneath the back neckline of Elizabeth’s tank top and pulled the loose pink material taut enough to give her room to work. Jade made a small downward cut right in the middle. This time, she didn’t just need to be discreet. She needed to be quick.

Liz stiffened.

She was never big on physical contact, and now this goth girl was constantly grazing her back in a way that would go unnoticed by the teacher up front. And then Liz felt it. A hint of cool metal, followed by a tiny bit of looseness on her left side. Jade’s hand kept the right half supported, but any doubt about what the girl behind her was doing vanished after another cut. And another. And another.

Before Liz could even process what was happening, Jade had cut a quarter of the way down the back of her tank top with the small pair of scissors. And, in a continued lack of mercy towards Liz or her clothes, Jade kept going.

In two swift snips, Jade cut through the band of her bra.

[Juliette]

Love the premise.

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART FOUR

What was Jade doing??

Liz kept clutching her tank top and bra to her chest, frantically glancing left and right to see if anyone was seeing this. Would they say something in her defense, or watch with excited interest?

A room that already laughed at her getting in trouble? Probably the latter.

Her bra was a major issue now. Losing the straps was one thing, but losing the tightness of the band meant that her hands were now the only things holding the light pink cups to her boobs.

And Jade. Kept. Cutting.

Liz took a nervous inhale as she felt the cool scissors sliding down her skin as the back of her tank top was cut in half all the way down to the hem.

Mrs. Garcia was reading a book on her desk, which explained how Jade was still getting away with this. Even though the goth girl behind her was probably leaning forward far more than natural to cut so low, all of her movements were small enough to not draw attention to herself. No one talking or moving too much meant that detention seemed under control.

Just like that, Liz felt the hem of her top sliced in half. She lightly blushed as she realized her entire bare back was now on display, as were a bit of her sides as the pink top flopped open behind her.

Her mind began racing, reevaluating what she should do. Though the detention classroom was quiet, surely at least one or two students in the back half of the room had noticed. They could poke the student in front of them and point her out. This had gone way too far, and everyone else would know in a matter of minutes, if not sooner.

But before she could figure out what to do, Liz felt Jade’s hands brush her bare sides. She shivered from the touch, and didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. The dark clad girl gripped both tank top and bra band and gave a HARD downward tug.

Liz was only clutching her clothes to her chest to protect her modesty. However, she wasn’t gripping them nearly hard enough to fight for control of them. In one clean, unexpected motion, her boobs were uncovered. Rather than scream, Liz let out a muffled squeak from the back of her throat as she instinctively defended her now exposed breasts. And, when her arms were busy covering her bare chest, Liz felt her clothes being whisked away from her body.

‘No! No, no, no!’ Liz gasped as Jade took away her top and bra, leaving her with absolutely nothing above her jeans. But before she had time to process what just happened, to process that she was literally sitting in a desk chair half naked, Jade broke the detention silence with the worst thing possible.

“Elizabeth! Put your top back on!!”

‘Oh God, no!’ Liz’s heart sunk at the words, and her cheeks began burning. This had quickly descended into her worst nightmare, and in only a matter of seconds. This couldn’t be happening to her! As Jade announced her topless situation to the rest of the room, Liz immediately jumped into action. What was she doing?! The girl behind her literally just cut and pulled off her clothes, told the world about it, and Liz was still seated? No way!

The whole classroom of detention kids turned towards Jade’s voice, but Liz didn’t wait or listen for their reactions. She was already on the move. This wasn’t some bathroom pass she needed; she had to get out NOW. Liz practically jumped up from her seat. And, in her haste, she didn't notice the resistance from her jeans until it was way too late to course correct.

RRIIIIIIIIIIIPPP

The sound seemed to echo through the classroom for all to hear, momentarily deafening the gasps and muttered reactions from her state of undress. Liz felt it immediately. No fabric hugging her ass like before, and a sudden, distinct breeze down there. She looked down in horror at the large rectangle of blue denim still stuck to her seat, and then to a smirking Jade, who had already somehow made both tank top and bra disappear completely.

Half of the room was getting an eyeful of her plain, light pink panties that, while matching her bra, sharply contrasted the dark blue of her jeans, but Liz couldn’t bring herself to try to defend that particular region. Her exposed boobs were more important to protect, and there’s no way one hand would even begin to cover her panty-clad ass anyway.

“Ms. Miller!”

Mrs. Garcia’s voice snapped her out of the second shock wave from being this exposed. All of a sudden, everything sunk in all over again. The feeling of her bare breasts against her arms. The huge hole in her jeans. The worst possible audience for this. Jade’s smirk.

The adrenaline of the situation certainly made things slow down, but it did nothing to help her decision making.

“I-I’m sorry!” Liz managed to blurt out. And then she ran.

There was no time to decipher what Mrs. Garcia’s tone meant, no time to pin the blame on Jade, no time to do anything but follow her natural instincts. And, at the end of the day, Liz fell more on the submissive side. The altercation with Leah and Sarah was a rarity, in defense of a friend. Liz had no such reflex to defend or fight for herself. Especially not while unclothed. Flight was the only thing she could manage.

Bursting out of the detention classroom with crimson cheeks, Liz quickly wrapped her second arm back over her chest after she had no choice but to use it to open the classroom door. Yet there was no sigh of relief.

It suddenly dawned on her that she hadn’t thought her escape plan all the way through. Because, as she stood in the empty hallway, Liz remembered where she was.

School.

She was topless at school.

[Debbifan]

My prime allegiance remains to The Prefect, which I consider your masterpiece. But this is starting to run it a close second. I'm also intrigued to find out why it is called The Debt, since there does not appear to be any debt so far, unless we are talking about the tickets in the prologue ?

[cober]

Best part is she has a 2nd day of detention wonder what creative tricks Jade will have to embarrass Liz! Bravo+++

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART FIVE

The bad news was, it was free period. Students weren’t bound to classes, and could be literally anywhere. The good news was, it was frowned upon for students to actually roam the halls. The unspoken rule was that once you found a spot, you should commit to it. Whether it was to just hang out with friends or to cram for an upcoming test, the faculty preferred for them to stay put. They didn't want students running around and potentially ditching school with too much freedom of movement.

Liz knew she had to make a snap decision. Left, or right. Knowing Mrs. Garcia could chase after her and try to ‘handle’ the situation, no doubt in a way that would involve her coming back into the classroom full of students who already got enough of an eyeful, Liz decided she was better off on her own.

Left.

It wasn’t totally random. On a mission, Liz darted away from the classroom door and turned the nearest corner, letting out an enormous sigh of relief when she came across another empty hallway. Keenly aware of her toplessness and the weird way the back of her jeans shifted against her with every step, Liz had complete tunnel vision: Clothes.

The first thing that came to mind was the auditorium. The theatre department had a stash of costumes. Not exactly ideal for blending in at high school, but anything was better than being half naked. While most of the old costumes were locked up, Liz knew that things from whatever current production they were working on would be backstage.

Not wanting to push her luck of two empty hallways so far, she scurried halfway down the hall and used her hip to push open the stairwell door, determined to keep her chest covered at all times. Rather than cross her arms all the way over her chest, Liz kept them halfway crossed and used each hand to hold the opposite side breast. It was SO weird holding her bare boobs at school, but nipple on palm felt more safe than a potential nip slip from fully crossed arms.

Down the stairs, then two more hallways, and finally, the little tunnel that connected the school to the auditorium. Normally a super easy walk, but it felt like a mile-long gauntlet in Liz’s mind. She quickly took the stairs down to the main floor, and gasped as she reached the base of the stairwell. A girl and boy were emerging from under the stairs, no doubt from a make-out session Liz had interrupted with the sound of the metal stairwell door a few seconds ago.

“What the fuck?!” the girl exclaimed. She let out a laugh that was something between confusion, judgment, and amusement. The boy just stared.

“Sorry!” The single word escaped Liz’s lips as reflexively as it did in the classroom. She wasn’t even sure what she was apologizing for. Disturbing them in the middle of what Liz hoped was just a kiss, or for not wearing clothes in their presence. Though it was all Jade’s doing, Liz still felt the urge to apologize for her indecency every time so far.

And, just like in the detention classroom, the last thing Liz wanted to do was stick around when people were staring. She turned away from them, not even realizing that doing so completed her mess of an image with the gaping jeans hole and light pink underwear showing. Praying to God that they wouldn’t follow her for whatever reason, Liz burst through the lower stairwell door, actually using both hands this time in her haste.

Everything that happened next was one big blur.

The moment the door gave way, Liz crossed her arms and grabbed her boobs. She was so concerned with covering, however, that she didn’t notice the impending collision until it was too late. The girl on the other side of the door was in no way prepared to dodge Liz flying towards her either.

It all happened so quickly. The two girls’ bodies collided and actually banged heads as Liz escaped from the stairwell at top speed. While Liz caught her balance and managed to resist rubbing her head in favor of staying covered, the other girl didn’t have it nearly as lucky. She stumbled and her armful of school materials immediately fell from the force Liz put on her arm when she ran into the girl. Books, binders, and notebooks exploded on the ground, creating a mess of loose papers and writing utensils from one of the binders that wasn’t quite as secure as the others.

“HEY!!! Watch it, bitch!!” the girl snapped, turning to glare at her.

Both girls met eyes at the same time, realization of who the other was dawning on both their faces.

Of all people, Liz had just crashed into Sarah.

[*Lady Lucia*]

PART SIX

Liz genuinely didn’t know how to react.

It’s not like Sarah and her were enemies. In fact, they were part of the same friend group. It’s just that Sarah was a bit hot-headed compared to the rest of them. Quick to anger and easy to annoy. Liz and Sarah had known each other since elementary school, which was probably why Liz and her other girlfriends allowed Sarah’s drama to exist.

There’s no way a girl like Sarah would be accepted into their group now, but the familiarity and years of history were enough to keep her around despite her faults. It’s not like Liz or any of the others were perfect either.

Today, however, Sarah had already thrown her under the bus with a sneer. And that was from a shove. Now Liz had almost knocked her down, and sent all her possessions exploding onto the ground.

Time seemed to stand still as the two of them stared at each other. It was only a second or two in real time, but it felt like a lifetime to Liz. She stood fully topless, hands still gripping her bare boobs, and unable to do anything but wait for Sarah to say something else.

“Liz? Jesus, what happened to you?” Sarah scoffed, taking in Liz’s embarrassing situation. She no longer seemed too concerned with her things strewn all over the school hallway.

Good enough. Liz would rather an amused scoff than an angry glare. “It was Jade,” Liz said. The words tumbled out of her mouth. At this point, she would take all the help she could get. Better Sarah than some pervy boy. Liz quickly summarized her awful detention experience, and even slightly turned so Sarah could get a glimpse of her underwear through the partially destroyed jeans, blushing a bit as she did. “Look, I’m sorry about your stuff, okay? But I really need to get to the auditorium before I run into someone else.”

“Umm, Liz? Freshman assembly is today, remember?” Sarah said. She stooped down to collect her things, glancing up at Liz with a confused look, “Besides, why not the locker room?”

Shit. Why hadn’t she thought of the girls’ locker room? Probably because of her haste to flee from detention. “No, that doesn’t work,” Liz sighed. “Leah was gonna lend me a set of gym clothes today. I lost my locker key a few days ago.” She took a step back and leaned back against the hallway wall to hide her underwear. The cool on her back made her shiver, but a familiar face at least calmed her down a little. Sarah could be a bitch sometimes, but she wouldn’t let a passing stranger take advantage of a friend. Hopefully.

“I don’t know why you use that stupid lock,” Sarah rolled her eyes, “Just get a number one like the rest of us.”

“My parents say it’s a waste of money.” Liz said. They already had the key lock lying around, so her parents didn’t feel the need to buy her a numbered one like most people had. As usual, frugal. According to her parents, it’s why they were so well off. Years of frugal habits that stack up. Her friends had actually offered up spare locks to her before, but the matching red lock to a friend’s set would open her up to pranks.

The last thing Liz wanted was to be stuck in sweaty gym clothes all day because her friends thought it would be funny to take her regular clothes and underwear. However, sweaty gym clothes sounded pretty great at the moment.

“Whatever,” Sarah said. She grabbed the rest of her things, piling it all into a messy stack for the moment, “Let’s go. Mine will be a little big on you, but it’s better than nothing.”

Thank God. Now that Liz knew the auditorium was crawling with freshman and faculty, running into Sarah actually turned out to be a good thing. Not only did the girl stop her from doing something incredibly stupid, but now she offered a source of clothes. “Thanks, Sarah,” Liz said.

“Don’t mention it.”

Sarah led Liz the opposite direction of the auditorium, down the first floor halls towards the gymnasium. Unlike Liz, the clothed girl was able to walk around corners and make sure the coast was clear. After a left and a right, and a hallway and a half of being just as exposed in school, they were outside the gym doors. “All clear,” Sarah said, after peeking through the metal doors.

Thank God it was spring. Some students did take advantage of free period to get some sports practice or just casual games in, but a chance to be outside between classes sounded better to most than the indoor gym.

Liz followed Sarah inside, but stopped in her tracks when Sarah took another left turn. They were headed towards the boys’ locker room. “Wait, Sarah!” Liz said. Nervously glancing back to make sure no one was following them or appearing from a gym teachers’ office, she then looked at Sarah again, “Where are you going?”

“My boyfriend’s locker?” Sarah said. The uptick in her voice made it obvious that she was questioning Liz’s question, rather than questioning her own direction.

That’s right. How could Liz have forgotten? She and Leah talked about it all the time. How Sarah was the kind of girl who liked that kind of attention.

Sarah would constantly strut into the boys’ locker room to say hi to Isaac, grab some food or clothes from his locker, and probably give him a kiss. It was an insane double standard she worked to her advantage. If a boy walked into the girls’ locker room when they were changing, he would be seen as a total creep. But if a girl walked into the boys’ locker room, she was confident and sexy. Sarah was attractive enough to go right in and do whatever, and it’s not like the average boy would mind her presence, save for the ones who were self conscious while changing.

A gym teacher or two had told her off about it once or twice, but she just got more sneaky about it from then on. Unlike Sarah, however, the very idea of the boys’ locker room, even an empty one, made her beyond nervous. Especially in her current situation.

“Oh, okay,” Liz awkwardly replied. She didn’t want to get on Sarah’s bad side. Not right now. “I’ll, umm, wait for you in the girls’ locker room.”

“Nonsense, Liz. This is a good chance for you to get over your whole stuck-up deal. It’s just a locker room. Let’s go.”

Liz lightly flushed. She was NOT stuck-up! Just because she didn’t get in trouble like Jade or push her luck like Sarah didn’t mean that she was no fun. It was just different personalities; different kinds of fun. “Sarah, no.” Liz said. Just because she was a little desperate didn’t mean she would put up with anything. “I don’t want to go in there. Please just bring me something?”

“Liz, no.” Sarah said, mimicking her serious tone. “If you want my things, you will do it my way. And because you’re already being stuck-up, now you have to trade your pants for entry. Otherwise, have fun with the auditorium.” With that, Sarah darted into the boys’ locker room, and Liz could hear the faint thud of the deadbolt being slid into place.

“Sarah!!” Liz called after her, but it was too late. Her voice just echoed through the gym, reminding her just how alone and half naked she was. Apparently, she was that desperate. Aside from being packed full of students, the auditorium was now twice as far away.

If she was thinking a little more clearly, Liz could have decided to just go to the girls’ locker room anyway and wait a long and awkward twenty or thirty minutes for free period to end. Surely some girl would take pity on her and lend her clothes. But this was Liz’s worst nightmare. She wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. So after one more nervous look around, she walked over to the door and peeled off her ruined jeans, tossing them on the floor beside the bleachers. No sewing in the world could fix what Jade did. Liz felt her heartbeat increase at being even more exposed than before, but found herself giving a hesitant knock as she stood there in just her underwear.

“Sarah? I took off my pants,” Liz said, blushing again at the mortifying simplicity of her words.

A few seconds later, she heard the door being unlocked, and Sarah cracked the door to check the validity of her words. “Hey, you look less stuck-up like that,” Sarah nodded. “Well? Coming in?” Then she disappeared like before, letting the door close behind her.

Feeling like there weren’t any better options, Liz did just that. She hastily opened the door in case Sarah decided to lock it again behind her. The first little corridor looked exactly like the girls’ locker room, but the knowledge of what it really was made Liz’s cheeks heat up again. With a blush about as pink as the only shred of clothing she had left, Liz forced herself to take a tentative step through the doorway.

For the first time ever, she was in the boys’ locker room.

In only her underwear.