*Lady Lucia* wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 3:59 pmAuthor's Note:
I accidentally wrote most of this section in 1st person. Upon attempting to edit, I figured out that I actually liked it a little more this way. I'll try to get back and edit the previous parts to match, but right now I'm going to work on continuing for the sake of getting more posted!
You have a natural talent for writing in the first person and I am thrilled to hear that at some point in the future you might edit the entire story into the first person format. Great story so far.
Just like that, Danielle was taking me to her house.
Before we left, she gave Will one more reminder to head home after this game. And to text her how many people were coming over, so she could get the pizza order started. It only dawned on me after agreeing to come with her that the change of location was for MY benefit. So I’d still be with the group after getting changed, rather than all of them disappearing to Mark’s house in my absence.
Such a tactic pretty heavily implied that Danielle didn’t recognize me, which put my mind at ease. But, at the same time, I felt a little guilty. If Manhunt was over, I’d have no reason to stick around. I was just going to take Danielle’s clothes and go, meaning she wasted a pizza order on me. At least I could justify that such an expense wouldn’t make the slightest dent in her bank account. Well, in her parents’ bank account.
And, if I had to guess, the game would be over sooner rather than later. This particular round, at least. Will and Colin didn’t have much time left to hide.
After dismissing her brother and his friend, Danielle gave her boyfriend a quick kiss and sent him on his way as well. Guess they had done all they sought out to do in the woods and, based on where he was headed, he had walked over from his neighborhood to meet her rather than getting dropped off. Smart. No questions or suspicion from parents.
It was a pretty short walk to Danielle’s place, and I went through the same little interrogation I went through with Emily. It was both easier and more difficult the second time through. The lies flowed more naturally, but my heart skipped a beat basically every time she glanced in my direction throughout the walk. As ‘Ava,’ I told my squad mate how I just moved here and how I stumbled upon the game with the other neighborhood kids and asked if I could join. Nothing about my age or how I would be attending West Middle, and she thankfully didn’t prompt anything about that.
Instead, she just gave me some tips about the neighborhood. Best spots at the pool, shortcuts from here to there, and cranky neighbors to avoid. Just when I was starting to relax about my little masquerade, Danielle hit me with something entirely unexpected as we approached her familiar house. “You can use my private bathroom to shower up, Ava. I’ll go find those clothes in the meantime.”
Wait, what?
A shower? That wasn’t part of the deal. The only reason I agreed to follow her instead of going home to get out of my wet clothes was because she insisted it would be quick. Well, the free outfits too, of course, but it still wasn’t my intention to drag this out.
“Umm, that’s okay,” I replied. Surely she wasn’t serious.
Apparently she was. “Ava, that creek water is disgusting. You definitely need to wash up. Besides, don’t you want to be squeaky clean before your crush gets here? I saw the way you were looking at Will.”
Will?! Danielle’s younger brother? The sexist boy who pushed me into the creek? He was two years my junior! Though I guess she didn’t know that. The surprise on my face must have been obvious, because Danielle just laughed in response. “Oh my God, I’m kidding! He’s a total brat. I would know best, right? Honestly, I'd be a little worried about you if you actually liked him.”
“Mm hmm. Don’t worry, he’s not my type,” I replied, Will’s annoying words still echoing in my head from my frustration earlier. Hopefully my little fake laugh sold Danielle on my agreement to her words without bothering her. It’s always tricky insulting someone’s sibling after they do so themselves. I’m an only child, but I’ve witnessed the weird balance siblings have of caring for each other while still being at odds all the time.
“Give him a few years and he might mature,” she shrugged. As usual, Danielle was hard to read, but my reply seemed to be safe. Unfortunately, that didn’t save me from what led us to the current topic. “But really, you should hop in the shower. You don’t have to get your hair wet or anything. Just clean off that creek water. And armpits, if you’ve been running around!”
At that, I blushed a little. “I-”
“Don’t worry, it connects to my room! The others won’t bother you if they get back early. Tell you what, Ava. I’ll even throw in a fourth outfit for your trouble. How’s that sound?”
As if anything I could say would make a difference. Danielle is one of the most pushy girls I’ve ever met. Maybe I could fight back if she knew who I really was, but arguing as a fake tween was going to be impossible. And, at this point, I was determined to keep my cover intact. Plus another free outfit didn’t hurt. “Okay,” I reluctantly agreed. I’ve never been the kind of girl who likes long showers anyway, and the point about my hair really stood out. If it was just a quick scrub, I could be in and out in two minutes.
And that was that.
Danielle whisked me up to her room, one that was way too big for your average fifteen year old girl. Or average child for that matter, as I had been in this room countless times while growing up. It was nearly twice the size of mine, and had always been a point of both awe and jealousy amongst me and some of the other girls. Perfect for sleepovers, which certainly helped Danielle maintain her popularity by being a frequent host.
She got me all set up in the bathroom, going so far as to turn on the water for me in the fancy standing shower to what she knew to be a good temperature. A fresh, plush towel and matching hand towel, permission to use any of the hygiene and styling products strewn about the bathroom; enough for a small army, and the go-ahead to take my time if I’d like. Danielle’s younger brother and his friends wouldn’t dare enter her room, which made the private bathroom extra private because of the second door between me and them.
It wasn’t really a concern to begin with, as I doubted the tween crowd would go so far for a prank. Then again, Will was Danielle’s brother. Best to be safe, I guess.
Per Danielle’s suggestion, I tossed my damp, creek clothes down the laundry chute once she left to give me some privacy, and I stepped into the shower. Initially, I was planning on a very short shower, basically just enough to satisfy Danielle’s insistence about cleaning the creek water off my body. But I couldn’t help myself. I hadn’t used a standing shower in forever.
The marble and frosted glass felt more classy than my tub and shower curtain back home, but the main draw was the shower head. Perfect water pressure coming from above me like rain; not too hard, not too soft. I quickly gave up on keeping my hair dry like originally intended, as standing underneath the shower head made avoiding the water basically impossible. Danielle had a hair dryer in the bathroom, so I wasn’t too worried. Taking my sweet time, I scrubbed myself clean, realizing halfway through that I was pretty much stuck naked until Danielle came back with clothes for me anyway. Might as well condition with one of my friend’s expensive products.
Thankfully, I wasn’t stranded for too long. Halfway through my conditioning, the bathroom door opened. My heart skipped a beat for a second simply because I'm not used to anyone barging in on me when I'm in the shower, but it was just Danielle. I couldn’t help but blush a little when I saw her blurry form on the other side of the frosted glass, realizing that I was a naked blur from her perspective. “Hey, Ava, I left something for you out here! I'll be out in my room whenever you're done. No rush!”
And then she left as quickly as she arrived. Letting out a sigh of relief, I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair and enjoyed the hot water and the steamy shower for another few minutes before finally turning the water off. I was SO refreshed. While my home showers were way shorter in comparison, I could see this exquisite bathroom making it an every day temptation if I lived here. Letting out a contented sigh in the surrounding steam, I cracked the shower door to grab that plush towel.
It wasn’t there.
Did Danielle accidentally take mine when she came in a few minutes ago? Ugh, I was going to have to use hers instead. A little awkward using another girl’s towel, but what choice did I have? Pushing the shower door open wider, a quick scan revealed that there was nothing for me in the bathroom. No regular towels, no hand towels, no clothes. Nothing. What the hell?! Danielle was just here, and she said she was leaving me with something to wear.
Did Will convince her to prank me? No, the Danielle I knew wouldn’t help a boy prank a girl like that.
Then I saw it. Danielle said she was going to leave something for me, and apparently she wasn’t lying. It just wasn’t what I expected. A single index card sat in the middle of the marble bathroom floor. The bright purple ink immediately identified it as a Danielle note, and I took a tentative step out of the shower to grab it. Darting back behind the frosted glass just in case the fellow cheerleader decided to barge into the bathroom, I closed the shower door again and glanced down at the card.
Upon reading the message, my breath caught in my throat, and I could feel the heat rushing to my face.
Three simple words, turning one of those little worst case scenarios from earlier into more of a reality:
The same can’t be said about a lot of cheerleaders, as certain stereotypes tend to hold up. Most things don’t bother me, though I’ll often pretend to care about the drama around me at school just for the sake of fitting in. I learned some time in middle school that simply shrugging things off leads to a healthier mentality and way less stress about basically everything, and not even high school has warped that too much for me like it does for so many others.
Until now.
This was something I absolutely couldn’t shrug off. My heart was pounding and my blush persisted as everything sunk in. Danielle knew who I really was; Avery, not Ava. I was naked in her bathroom. There were no towels or clothes to be seen. There was only one door available to me.
Taking a shaky breath in an attempt to calm myself, I did another scan of the bathroom. The washcloth in the shower was basically as effective as using my hand to cover, so I didn’t bother with that. Crossing my fingers, I opened the laundry chute and jammed my arm down as far as it would go, but there was no fabric to be found. I could use shaving gel to cover my nipples? No, I’d be better off just using my arm. On that thought, I could feel my nipples hardening a bit thanks to my damp skin in the bathroom as the steam from my shower abandoned me and left the air more cool than before.
God, I was screwed.
My heart skipped a beat when I remembered how Danielle waltzed in during my shower. Caring a lot less about getting the floor wet now that I knew her intentions of embarrassing me, I scurried out of the shower and quietly locked the door before she could barge in on my naked self.
As I stood bare in the bathroom, I also became aware of just how quiet it was. I could practically hear Danielle’s sing-songy voice in her handwriting; that purple cursive with the little heart over the ‘i’ in ‘nice.’ But no actual voice, no teasing call through the bathroom door. Clearly she enjoyed letting me stew after discovering the lack of anything to dry or cover with, and I could only imagine her simply waiting on the other side of the door. Seated on the edge of the bed, one leg primly crossed over the other with a little smirk on her face. Or standing right by the bathroom door with her phone aimed to capture the moment.
What about . . . the window?
That would be mortifying in a completely different way. I had gone skinny dipping a few times, but that was in total solitude, and usually at night. Danielle’s bathroom, on the other hand, faced the street and all the other houses across the way, and it was the middle of the afternoon. I’m an amazing climber, so I could get down from the roof pretty quickly, but then what? Run home naked? My parents weren’t home, which was a huge plus, but Danielle’s house was on the opposite side of the neighborhood than mine.
Face Danielle while buck naked, and risk even more social damage than my little disguise would cause when she gossips about me? Or face the outdoors while buck naked, and risk being caught in an extremely compromising state of undress?
Outside.
Daunting and high risk as it was, it felt like the more logical option. Weirdly enough, the more ‘safe’ option between the two.
Maybe my nudity was a tiny prank and Danielle would give me clothes immediately, but that didn’t sound like the cheerleader I knew. While she wasn’t malicious at heart, I had seen firsthand how she had once pushed a girl out of the locker room in just a towel, or stolen a showering girl's clothes and leaving her to fend for herself. Usually because those girls did something to deserve it. Again, ‘fairness’ in all things has always been Danielle’s game, albeit on her terms. My little disguise and boldfaced lies no doubt deserved some form of amusing punishment, and I wasn’t about to stick around to figure out what she had in mind.
I lightly flushed at the out-of-body thought of seeing my small, naked form scurrying across the roof from an across the street viewpoint. Climbing down the big tree by the corner of Danielle’s house. Sprinting to the cover of the tree line at the edge of the woods. Every second spent thinking about those actions paired with my own nudity made me less and less sure of myself, but I still found myself hurrying over to the frosted glass window and opening it all the way. If I didn’t do it now, I was going to talk myself out of it.
The summer breeze was warmer than the bathroom air, but I found myself shivering nonetheless. Outside air, hitting parts of me that it normally never would. A quick scan of the street showed that no one was taking a walk at the moment, though that didn’t necessarily prove that no one was looking out their windows in the houses across the way. Whatever. I climbed out the window as deftly as we used to do as kids, though this wasn’t for stargazing at a sleepover, and wasn’t the usual bedroom window.
Cringing at the thought of how my bare breasts were on display for a moment as my top half went through first, I immediately threw one arm over my chest as I swung my legs out right afterwards. God, I’m glad I locked the bathroom door. If anyone was watching from behind, they would have gotten a perfect view of my bare ass and more, thanks to how my legs had to spread to get through the window one at a time. The part of the roof by the bathroom window was pretty narrow, so it took a careful process to get out.
Shit, I was naked on a roof. With the sun still high in the sky! My small frame bare for the whole world to see, save for how I kept my arms firmly clasped over the important bits.
Hesitation and nervousness faded as reality sunk in, replaced instead by an pressing drive to be as quick as possible now that I came this far. Dashing towards the tree we used to climb as kids, I leapt off the roof with no hesitation whatsoever, letting both my hands go for a mortifying few seconds of uncovering in order to deftly catch myself on the branches.
All my outdoor experiences as a kid and a teen kicked into high gear, and I climbed down the tree with all the speed I was capable of, pausing just enough to make sure I didn’t misstep and take a nasty fall. In a matter of seconds, my bare feet landed firmly on the ground after a final swing from one of the lowest branches.
Letting out a tiny pant from the adrenaline, heart racing from both my exposure and the sudden burst of energy just used, I flung my arms back around myself and set my sights on the woods at the edge of Danielle’s yard. But before I could take a single step, I heard two horrible sounds from behind me.
A feminine giggle, and the *click* of a picture being taken.
I don't know if it's about being naked outdoors, being naked in a prominent position like on a stage, or combining the fear of being seen with the fear of falling, but being naked on a roof is something that I've really wanted to see for a while now and you've managed to set it up and execute it perfectly. The fact that no one even saw her until she got down doesn't really matter, really. This chapter was fantastic.
Bolted for the woods and never looked back. If I was thinking rationally, I would have realized that the picture would have simply been of my bare backside and my wet hair. Not nearly enough identifying features to pin me as the one naked in Danielle’s yard.
But I wasn’t thinking rationally. I was completely naked, and my single biggest fear prior to climbing out that window was being caught outdoors in such an exposed state. Now that it was happening, and SO soon after starting the would-be naked adventure, I found myself unable to continue moving. So instead of sprinting away and mitigating the damage done, I reflexively turned to see who just took a picture of my bare ass, and to beg them to delete it.
*Click.* *Click.* *Click.*
The first picture might not have shown my face, but these next three definitely did. Partly turning and glancing over my shoulder, my pale ass still totally on display. I wouldn’t dare move my arms from their positions over my front side, and only had to pray that my most private area wasn’t visible from behind.
A single girl was standing on the porch above me. Red hair, phone in hand, and a huge grin on her face. Chloe, another cheerleader in my year. “Oh my God, Avery! Dani and I didn’t actually think you’d do it!” she said, unable to contain a small giggle. Chloe’s phone stayed trained on me, but she was refraining from more pictures for now. Probably because my position hadn’t changed.
“Chloe!!” I exclaimed. I could feel the heat rising to my face. “Delete those, please!” The tree climbing had made me briefly forget about my lack of clothes due to the concentration and physicality involved, but having pictures snapped of me had the complete opposite effect. I was now keenly aware of my nudity; bare feet on the ground, outside air touching every inch of me, and an enormous knot in my stomach.
And why was Chloe even here?! Danielle was just with her boyfriend!
“Seriously, we were sure you’d just face the music. Like, super sure. There was, like, a 2% chance you’d actually climb out the window. Good thing we covered our bases anyway!”
“Chloe-”
“Chloe, please delete those? No way, girly! Come on back inside. Dani wants to chat, and this is like, super illegal anyway! Though I gotta say, it’s a good look for you!”
A flirty wink, and one more audible *click* of the camera, and she swiveled on her heel, crossed the porch, and disappeared into the house before I could find my voice again.
Chloe was bisexual, or had at least been experimenting since the beginning of high school, but she usually made a point not to be overt about her sexuality around her fellow cheerleaders. Mostly because we all changed around each other all the time, and that might lead to awkwardness if she didn’t stay aloof about it. At the moment, however, she must have felt well within her rights to teasingly flirt. She knew I wasn’t into girls, but that wasn’t the point. Her wink and teasing compliment just piled onto how flustered I was, which was definitely her intention.
Without the safety of a private bathroom (or clothes, for that matter), I couldn’t exactly dawdle. I had to make a choice, and quickly.
Cut my losses and run, letting Danielle and Chloe have both gossip about my childish disguise AND photos of me being naked outside? Or stick around, in an attempt to get my squad mates to keep all this to themselves? If I stayed, they’d surely take more photos, this time of my bare front half while I attempted to cover. No doubt in my mind. But staying was also the only way to talk things out, and to hopefully convince them to delete all the evidence after having their fun at my expense.
Ultimately, it wasn’t my decision to make.
Faint voices from the woods made me whip my head back around towards the sound, suddenly afraid of being caught all over again. Off in the distance, deep past the tree line, I saw the crowd of kids from the Manhunt game I had infiltrated. All of them, coming this way, because Danielle had convinced Will to invite them over after the game. There’s no way Dani had thought this far ahead; I’m sure she just used the ‘my house’ insistence as a means to get me to follow her. This was just an unfortunate side effect.
They hadn’t noticed me yet, but it was only a matter of time. The chances of me skirting around the group without being detected was slim to none, especially since sprinting across the yard for the tree line in the middle of the afternoon didn’t exactly offer a lot of options for stealth.
Making a snap decision, I ran for the house instead.
Front lawn, porch steps, screen door, regular stairs, upstairs hallway, Danielle’s room. It was all a blur. My arms never left my body, and I only had to pray that Will, Colin, Emily, and all those other tweens didn’t get a glimpse of my bare backside as I bounded towards the house. Ava may have been fictional, but the thought of a bunch of middle schoolers seeing me so exposed in this way was still mortifying. Two people was already two too many.
I braced myself for the *clickclickclickclickclick* of two smart phones, but I merely found myself face to face with Danielle and Chloe sitting side by side on the bed. Patiently waiting for me, as they clearly assumed I’d choose Option A of my little conundrum outside. Chloe still had that amused grin on her face, but Danielle was wearing her patented nonchalant smirk.
“It was the shoes,” Danielle said.
As I kicked the bedroom door closed with my feet, committing to my impulsive decision to trust my squad mates, my dark haired friend gestured to my pink and white sneakers she had balanced on the windowsill to dry. “Next time you want to play dress up, maybe wear something a little less ‘Avery?’”
Oh. Her teasing words connected immediately. For a privileged girl who was a borderline shopaholic, it made total sense that she would remember my sneakers from several years back. In our middle school gym class, we all had to wear matching uniforms distributed by the school. Shoes, hairbands, and other little accessories were the only way to be unique, and my pink and white shoes were how I added a splash of color to the otherwise neutral gym shorts and t-shirt.
Danielle must have recognized those sneakers the moment she saw me by the creek. Something like that wouldn’t get past her, and my physical features, despite the little modifications, probably connected the rest of the dots for her. The whole point of disguises is that people aren’t supposed to look too closely, and the image of Danielle’s momentary gaze by the creek made a lot more sense now.
She knew who I was from the very beginning. The rest had just been a little game.
“Okay, you got me,” I sighed. Trying to be strong, but failing.
This was a way different dynamic than usual. Sure, we all changed together for cheerleading, even to the point of nudity. Swapping out regular undergarments to sports bras and mesh underwear or spandex short shorts wasn’t uncommon amongst us in the locker room, but the key word was changing together. Being totally naked in front of two fully clothed girls was something else entirely. Especially when that nudity had been orchestrated.
“Now can I have something to wear, please?” I asked, tacking on a bit of politeness just for good measure. I could feel the faint blush, but tried my best to ignore it. “Or even a towel?” At that point, I’d settle for just about anything.
“Nice try, Ava,” Danielle replied. The swap in name from her little note wasn’t lost on me. “If you want clothes, and if you want to buy our silence, you’re going to have to earn those things!”
There it was. Based on my escape across the roof, she knew I was capable of running home naked if it came to that. But keeping this quiet at school, carefree as I was, sounded particularly appealing now that my poor decisions and bad luck had already been shared with just one other girl. What if our whole squad found out, for example? Or ALL my classmates? I could try to play it cool and brush it off, but I could easily see this becoming a running joke throughout the rest of my high school days. Now that I was here, I at least had to hear the offer.
Letting out a more audible sigh and wrapping my arms more firmly around my bare body, if that were even possible, I made myself meet Danielle’s eyes. “Earn them how . . .?” I hesitantly asked.
In response, Danielle hopped up from the bed. Eyes lighting up with excitement, and more of a knowing smirk than before, Danielle stood there for a moment and looked me over. I hadn’t actually agreed to anything yet, but the look on her face certainly suggested her own interpretation of my words.
“Avery, I am SO glad you asked,” she said, “Well, for starters . . .”
That’s it. That’s all Danielle said as she towered over me.
Maybe a bit of hyperbole, as the girl isn’t that tall. But she’s definitely my opposite in all things physical. Just above average height, curves in all the right places, and hair that always seems to be perfect, even after the most intense cheerleading drills. As if having rich parents wasn’t unfair enough, Danielle was insanely blessed by puberty, unlike yours truly.
Again, I’m not self conscious about my size. Being short, light, and, well, less endowed was always fine by me. Perfect for flips and tricks and being top of the pyramid in cheerleading, and just as great for about every other outdoorsy activity. Totally fine by me.
However, I’ve never felt so small than I did that day in Danielle’s bedroom. Without a stitch of clothing to cover my tiny frame, and when face to face with a smirking, date-ready Danielle, my usual confidence was nowhere to be found. “Umm . . .” When it was clear that she wasn’t going to elaborate, I found myself awkwardly breaking the silence, “Explain what?”
“Explain ‘Ava,’” she replied, putting little air quotes around the fake name.
“Oh. Umm, well,” I said, feeling that blush return as I nervously looked between her and Chloe. Were they really going to make me explain the incredibly impulsive idea I came up with earlier? To me, it made total sense at the time. Dress up, play a game or two, go home. Looking back, however, the ‘logic’ didn’t exactly hold up. Fifteen wasn’t that much older than twelve, and asking a group of neighborhood tweens to join their game as my real self (even if Danielle stumbled upon me like she did earlier) would have been preferable to explaining to my peers that I took such extreme measures instead.
But I didn’t know those were my two options when I started out. So here we were.
“I was, umm . . .I was out in the woods, exploring, and . . .” I began.
Normally, I wouldn’t be so tongue tied, but this wasn’t normal. The biggest factor, of course, was that I was still naked. My bare feet on Danielle’s carpet, a subtle breeze from the open window hitting those uncovered parts every now and then, and my lack of clothes constantly noticeable in my peripherals. Little reminders about my current situation that made it impossible to forget, even for a moment. And then there was the awkwardness of trying to explain my impulsive decision to do what I did, what led up to this, all while keeping my arms firmly wrapped around myself. Not the most ideal conditions to be explaining an already difficult to explain story.
Chloe was content sitting primly on the bed as she had been since I arrived, and Danielle remained standing nearby. Neither girl said a word the whole time, making the entire story more awkward whenever I had to pause or stumble over my words.
Why I dressed up. How I accidentally came up with ‘Ava’ on the spot. How I ended up annoying her younger brother. And, of course, the plunge into the creek that turned Danielle’s sisterhood reflex on until she saw those damn shoes.
Since Danielle had been there for the rest of it, including the boldfaced lies that I repeated to her on the way to her house, I figured that would be enough. “There,” I said, basically permanently blushing at this point from both reliving everything, trying to verbalize the crazy logic my brain used earlier, and from standing as bare as I had been since the shower. “Now can I have something to wear?”
“No way, Ava!” Danielle exclaimed. An amused smile on her face, similar to the one she had been wearing throughout most of my story, “Remember, that was just ‘for starters.’ Tell you what. Lower those arms of yours and we’ll consider your request. Otherwise, you can go home naked. Though it looks like you were totally game for that anyway. Good thing Chloe was there to talk some sense into you!”
Once again, I could feel the heat rising to my face. Reveal myself? “What? No!” I protested. No way. At some point, I had to put my foot down. The *clickclickclick* of Chloe’s phone earlier was still burned into my memory, and I wasn’t about to show off everything she hadn’t been able to capture the first time around.
Danielle must have read my mind. She held out her hand to Chloe, and the redhead immediately procured her phone and handed it over. Then Danielle made a show of retrieving her own phone from her purse nearby, and placed them both where they were easily visible on top of the white dresser across the room. “There. Nothing to worry about.”
Except that was only half the problem. Blackmail aside, there was still the fact that she wanted me to fully expose myself! To Danielle, the friend and cheerleader who had the rare power of making me jealous of another girl’s body. And to Chloe, the Bi girl who surely wouldn’t mind the show. “Can I please just have something to wear?” I asked, hoping they would just let it go. Today had already been long enough.
“You don’t have to be shy, Ava!” Danielle giggled. She was clearly enjoying her ability to tease me by dangling the carrot of clothes over my head, and using the little nickname I created for myself just rubbed salt in the wound, “We change around each other all the time, remember? It’s no big deal.”
“Yeah, but-”
“But what? Are you saying it IS a big deal if we see you naked?”
“Oh my God, are you curious?!” Chloe asked, finally jumping in.
No! That’s not— I’m straight. It had only been a few seconds since Danielle’s ‘request,’ and I already found myself a bit flustered and on my back foot. “No,” I said, trying my best to stay calm. “I just don’t want to.”
“Why not?” Danielle replied, “You’ve changed next to us in the locker room, right?”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because . . .”
Danielle’s grin as I trailed off showed that she definitely knew why I hesitated on that particular thought. And she was happy to fill in the blanks. “Oh, because we all change together? So you’re saying you want me and Chloe to get naked?”
“NO.” I quickly answered. My cheeks turned crimson at that thought. Danielle was certainly capable of such overt confidence, but I doubted she would actually follow through. She was just trying to rattle me. And it was working.
“Then what’s the problem?” Danielle asked, a bit coy this time. She knew why. No matter how she framed it, it didn’t change the fact that I was naked because I was tricked into losing my clothes.
“It’s— I, um . . .’
“Tell you what? Just drop your arms. It’s easy. Oooooorrr . . .” It was Danielle’s turn to trail off. She glanced up in false thought. The smirk on her face made it impossible to believe she was having any trouble coming up with ideas. “Maybe we should call your new friends up here to help convince you?”
I immediately stiffened at that. She wouldn’t! We were friends, right? The three of us had grown up together. Yeah, we might have drifted apart a bit, but we were still classmates and cheerleaders. And then it hit me.
Neither of the girls were acting malicious about any of this. It was like Truth or Dare. From their perspective, this was fun. Catching me in the act of 'Ava,' orchestrating my nudity, and now refusing to stop their teasing until I further embarrassed myself. Their version of fun, as I was both the amusing victim here AND the girl who hadn’t followed their same path of seeking popularity and promiscuity at the beginning of high school. The perfect target for teasing.
I had already managed to grin and bear dozens of Truth or Dare games, despite my distaste. Maybe that’s what I had to do now. Fake it. Pretend like this didn’t bother me, even though I was inwardly mortified. Though that was a pretty tall order, based on what they had seen from me so far. But if I played my cards right, maybe I could use this to get back from the outskirts of our friend group. Be confident, like Danielle. Be shameless, like Chloe.
Trying my very hardest to force the blush away, I took a quiet breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. “You really want to see me that badly?” I asked, internally cringing a bit. This wasn’t like me. At all. I gave them a small smile as well, hoping it exuded at least a modicum of that confidence I was grasping for. “Fine.”
And with that, I lowered my arms. But I didn’t just drop them.
I placed my hands on my hips, striking a pose as I revealed my whole self to the girls.
In one simple action, I completely lost the rest of my modesty.
My small breasts were totally on display. And, thanks to the cold of being naked for so long, combined with how my arms were constantly shifting over my chest while I covered myself, my nipples were hopelessly hard. Then there was my more private region, the one that no one had ever seen so directly before today. I had never been more thankful that I had taken the time to trim yesterday evening before my shower, though my little wisps weren’t exactly the image of maturity regardless.
At the moment, my thighs were clamped together as tightly together as possible as I stood on display. But without looking down, I knew that such a pose wouldn’t hide me completely. These two girls could definitely see a good portion of my little slit, and it took everything in me not to reverse the direction of my arms. The damage was already done. Danielle and Chloe had already seen just about everything, and covering myself back up would only keep me naked for even longer.
I had to take solace in the fact that these were girls, not boys. They had seen plenty of glimpses of me naked in the locker room, and there was no mutual attraction here. It was wildly embarrassing to be standing here like this, but it technically wasn’t the kind of ‘first’ that mattered. No phones, no further documentation of today’s ordeal. Girls that I knew, that I had grown up with. We had gone skinny dipping before as kids. They had the same ‘parts’ I did. Whatever. It wasn’t that bad, right?
Honestly, I was telling myself just about anything to maintain the courage of striking the confident pose.
“You are SO cute, Avery!” Danielle said.
She stifled a giggle with one hand, blatantly scanning my nude form up and down. I knew for a fact that Danielle was only into guys, but that didn’t stop her from making a few seconds feel like an eternity with her gaze. My focus was solely on her, as I didn’t want to think about Chloe’s hungry stare. “Seriously, have you even broken 100 pounds?”
No. I hadn’t. Short and slim with a crazy fast metabolism had kept me in the 90s throughout my first year of high school. But Danielle sounded a little rhetorical with her question, and I didn’t feel particularly keen on answering her either way. “Clothes? Please?” I asked. Every second of baring myself was a battle. Especially while trying to keep it cool.
“Not yet, Ava!” Danielle replied. Lowering the hand over her mouth, she instead placed it on her hip, matching my pose. The clothed, more curvy form of what I looked like. “Aren’t you wondering why Chloe’s here?”
Well, yeah. I was wondering that when she was snapping photos of me outside, but not so much any more. I just figured Danielle wanted a second girl here to heighten my embarrassment. But the lingering silence after her question pretty heavily implied that she was waiting for me to ask. “Why?” I finally replied.
“Well, I owe her a favor,” Danielle said. “Until today, I was totally blanking on how to repay her, but I came up with the most perfect idea earlier. She’s tired of looking at girls online, and her gaydar is pretty awful at school, so you’re going to give her a live show to help tide her over!”
The look on my face must have said it all. Shock. Disbelief. Mouth hanging partially open in both surprise and in an attempt to form some semblance of a reply. Fingers twitching in a subconscious desire to shift my hands and arms back to a more modest position. But before I could do anything verbal or physical, Danielle’s light laugh broke the silence. “Not that kind of show, Avery! But good to know that you’re not as innocent as you look. Don’t worry, this will be easy. All you have to do is a few cheerleading moves for us!”
Wait, what?!
While better than the more lewd 'show' that I admittedly did assume she meant at first, this was pretty bad too. My mind instantly began racing. This time, it wasn’t about whether or not I should, as it was pretty obvious to everyone (myself included) that I was in a little too deep at this point to back down. Instead, my thoughts flashed from pose to pose, both from our current routine and from what we had been practicing for future games and seasons. I could think of at least a dozen that would be mortifying to do while naked, and the little smile on Danielle’s face didn’t do anything to calm my nerves.
All-things-fair Danielle was about to use my impulsiveness and misfortune to repay a debt she owed to Chloe. It might seem totally fair to her, but it was not fair AT ALL to me.
The dark haired girl seemed to read my mind. “Think of this as a lesson about lying, little Ava,” she winked, “It’s perfect. Chloe and will be even, and you’ll learn the importance of telling the truth. How about it, Avery? Three little moves, and then you can go home!”
I finally forced myself to glance over to Chloe. The red haired girl was still nonchalantly sitting on the bed, her two hands propping her up as she leaned back a little. To her credit, she wasn’t blatantly staring at my naked body, as my face must have been more interesting at the moment. Indecision. A constant blush. A hint of nervousness that no doubt gave itself away despite my efforts to appear somewhat fine with all this.
Just three cheerleading moves. That felt tangible, and way more fair than doing our whole routine. To some degree, Danielle was living up to her reputation. The whole ‘naked and uncovered’ thing felt extreme to me, but she had already dismissed that with the ‘locker room’ excuse. Agree to disagree.
But now that we were here, now that I had already bared myself, what was a little more? Still, even in my nakedness, I managed to catch the potential cleverness in Danielle’s words. “. . .I can go home with my clothes?” I clarified, not wanting to do all this only to be sent home without a stitch of clothing like I almost did with my roof adventure.
“Your clothes are in the wash, remember?” Danielle smiled, “You could stick around until they’re done, or you can have one of those outfits I promised ‘Ava.’ Even if you’re not technically her, it’s close enough, and I am a girl of my word!”
Oh, right.
I had completely forgotten about that little ‘deal.’ Considering how high-end of all Danielle’s clothes were, it wasn’t the worst counter to my question. Plus, we both knew that I wouldn’t wait naked for both the washer and dryer to be done.
“Okay,” I muttered, sealing my own fate with the next question --
