A Formerly Shy Person Ch. 05

I even hugged her back.

"I've wanted to meet you too, Pandora, but I am very, very shy. I'm trying to be more outgoing, and Kristi has been a big help. She even got me drunk the other day, for the first time."

"It wasn't me that just kept filling her own glass!"

And with that, we all relaxed, chatting as the line moved forward. I was amazed at how comfortable I was

***

We finally made it to the front of the line and Pandora took the first stall. "Susan, let's you and I share ok? It'll be faster," said Kristi. I was fine with that; they were big stalls. Finally one opened up and we walked toward it. The stall's former occupant walked away, with her boyfriend, and Joey took the newly vacated seat. A minute later another woman left a stall, and Krista and I scooted toward it.

As soon as the door was shut, Kristi started changing and after a few seconds staring at her almost bared breasts, I turned to face the wall, and I pulled on my future tennis skirt, zipping it up and letting it fall into place. It felt cool against my bare skin, sliding easily as I moved. By the time I had finished getting the skirt on, Kristi was pulling her shirt over her head.

"Wow, you make that outfit look so hot. You look so sexy," I told her.

She smiled as I returned to my trying on new clothes. I then started to pull off my t-shirt dress.

"There's no mirror in here, I'm going to use the one outside."

"OK," was my unthinking reply.

Before I could say, "Wait!", Kristi had unlocked and opened the door of our stall. My face was covered with my dress, as I was still pulling it over my head...I was naked from the top of my tennis skirt to my neck. I struggled to reverse the process, finding myself tangled up even more. And while I'm sure it was only a few seconds, it seemed like minutes before I heard the stall-door close again.

My knees shuddered as I realized that Joey had been sitting right outside that door. And that if he'd been looking straight ahead, he'd have seen my bare torso. I'd been facing the wall, so it would mostly have been my back and maybe the side of my breasts. I quickly stood tall again, enjoying the rush of pleasure I'd felt at being seen, and confidently removed the dress and pulled on the shirt before Kristi reentered the stall.

It clung to me like a second skin, and I realized that I'd definitely want to wear a bra under it. My nipples were noticeably protuberances through the stretchy fabric, the areolas puffing out slightly around them. Even the indent of my belly-button was visible. Perhaps I needed a medium instead.

I pushed the stall door open a bit, sticking just a head and shoulder out, "Kristi?"

Joey looked me right in the eye, "She's in Pandora's stall now, because Pandora had a mirror."

"Um."

"Can I help? Do you need a second opinion?" Joey was so sweet, and I could see him hoping to see me in my outfit after having seen me almost nude a few seconds ago...at least in my thoughts.

"The shirt I have is too tight, and I can't wear it without a bra." I don't know why I told him that, but it just came out. "I think it's too revealing." I hung my head down, feeling my cheeks go red.

"Do you want me to look?" I could see the longing in his eyes.

"I'd be embarrassed...."

Joey rushed more words out, "I won't tell anyone I just saw you or if the shirt is too tight. I already learned my lesson."

I looked at him confused? "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know those photographs from the party of that girl I shared with people?" I nodded. "Well, I realized that by doing that, I'd lost any chance I had of her trusting me enough to go on a date...to get to know me...to see if we had anything in common. All because pictures I took turned out to be, well, more revealing and sexier than I'd remotely though possible. It wasn't my fault that her outfit was see-through under the flash, but it was that anyone else saw those photos. I was able to apologize to Pandora, and we've become good friends since. I just hope she wasn't horribly affected by my shitty choices."

I looked at him, touched by his concern for 'the girl' and his seeming honesty regarding his regrets. I almost, then and there, told him that I was the Bat Girl from that party. Instead, I said, "I meant, what do you mean that you just saw me?" I felt myself blushing more, as I was forcing my shame out into the open.

Joey cutely mumbled, "Um...well, um. The door. When Kristi came out. No shirt."

"You saw me without my shirt on?" I helpfully deciphered.

"Well, a bit, yeah, but I won't say anything to anyone. I promise."

"I'm so embarrassed...I've never...no guy has ever..." I shut-up then, letting my crimson tone express my shame. I realized too, that it was a blatant admission of my lack of experience with guys. I blushed more.

"You looked..." He was instantly quiet.

I looked up at him.

"...good."

I blushed even deeper, and was saved only by Kristi and Pandora emerging from their stall. Kristi's shirt was snug around her large breasts, I realized, with some space to spare below them, hanging free from her torso. The skirt did come down below her round ass, but only just. Pandora was also a curvy, fit, and sexy shape. She was, shorter than me, but taller than Kristi, and All Woman, in my view. C-cup breasts were firm against her one-piece Speedo swimsuit; it was high cut, revealing her sexy hips and nicely defined legs.

My admiration of her physique was broken as soon as their hands gripped my arm and pulled me out, "Let's see how you look!"

I could have killed them...."Stop, I'm not wearing...um...stop." I sounded week, even to myself. And I was too late. Everyone in the area around the change rooms was looking toward us. Toward me. At Me. At my nipples, pressing firmly through the thin material of my shirt. The shirt even clung to my torso tightly, and the indent of my belly button was even visible.

Pandora was the first to hint, out loud, at what was so obvious to everyone, "Susan, are you smuggling peanuts?"

I was quiet and looked down, my arms dangling at my sides. Feeling the red burn of shame alongside the fiery flush of lust. I loved knowing people were seeing part of me that, well, they normally wouldn't - looking at me in my arousal.

"I made her take her bra off before we came out. It was showing through her dress too much, and she doesn't really need it," was Kristi's contribution.

Pandora asked, "Are you cold, Susan?"

"Um....the fabric was cold against my skin," was the only reply I could come up with after a pregnant pause. With my face still pointed down, I angled my eyes toward each of my companions, hoping they'd accept that line. I stood very still, not sure about how short the skirt really was, and not ready or knowing how to give sitting-down-Joey a peek at what I wasn't wearing under it.

"I like it though," put in Kristi, "you look so sexy like that."

I tried not to catch Joey's eyes while I replied to the girls, my voice a bit shaky, "Let me go back and get changed, I'm not comfortable in something so revealing."

"We're just teasing you, Susan. I wish I could wear any shirt without a bra. And yeah, you can see your nipples when they're hard like this." I think I turned even more red at that, and was starting to worry about dripping down my legs. "But damn, mine show through a padded bra and a rugby shirt when they're cold."

"But..."

"Susan - look at me," Kristi interrupted me. I looked up at her. "You look great, and very sexy. BUT you definitely do NOT look sleazy or anything. You're fit, thin, and are lucky you don't NEED a bra if you don't want one. Anyway, you can wear one on party night, so don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. You look great." I was surprised that the first response was from Joey. It thrilled me between my legs, and in my heart.

"Tha..Thanks?" He was trying to not look at me and failing briefly every few moments.

"You both look great in those outfits, and both soooo hot."

"So it's settled," Kristi said with confidence. "We're going as Tennis players."

Pandora and Joey both clapped, and then three of us turned to look at Pandora as we realized she had been standing there this whole time in just a bathing suit. It was her turn to blush, though she didn't turn that red. "So what do you think," she said with cheek, a hand on one hip and one on the side of her head, "would anyone want to jump in a pool with me?"

That broke all the tension as we dissolved into laughter. And we all agreed that she looked fantastic in the white and red suit.

"Samantha, Allison, and Robin are all going to get white and red suits and we'll be a synchronized swim team."

"That'll be more fantastic," I said with my once-again-steady voice, "the four of you will look fantastic!"

She refused to tell us about their planned routine, and Kristi and I could honestly say we had no idea what ours was going to be.

After changing back to our normal clothes without incident, the three of us rejoined a now bored (and not longer covering his lap with a jacket) Joey and left the store.

Joey and I lagged behind a bit behind, Pandora and Kristi chatting away about a teacher they were both going to have next term. "So what are you going to dress as for the party, Joey?"

He replied to me, "I have absolutely no idea, Susan - not a friggin' clue. I don't own any hockey gear, and am not really a spandex person. It makes my choices difficult. Most of my friends are women, Pandora, really, is my best real friend, and I don't really have any good guy friends to borrow gear from. I'll figure something out though. I mean I do have 5 days to figure it out, after all."

We both laughed at his short-term challenge, and the four of us walked down the walkway of the mall, talking about nothing of importance.

And nobody commented on my still hard nipples poking through my dress. But Joey did spend a lot of time beside me looking downward and over in my direction. I also realized that I'd stopped blushing every time I thought about him looking at my fabric-sheathed breasts.

***

"So Susan, are you ready for me to buy you your bathing suit?"

"What's that about?" Joey and Pandora both asked at the same time, curiosity evident on both faces as they looked back and forth between Kristi and I.

"I..."

"We..."

Kristi and I both tried to talk at the same time, and laughed after the first words overlapped. "You explain, Susan," Kristi said with a smile.

"Well, I am buying Kristi a bathing suit for Christmas, and she's going to buy me one too."

"The SAME one, was what I said, so you'll all have to help me pick well."

We reached the escalator and trekked upstairs to the 3rd floor and home of the mall's sole store specializing in swim-wear. I realized as we entered that I was comfortable in this group - enjoying myself, relaxed and moderately confident in participating in our group and individual conversations. This was a new thing for me, and it felt like I'd expanded my circle of friends immensely. Hell, I had - by 200%!

We all started looking around, holding up suits that caught our eye and yelling, "Kristi?" She laughed at some of the silly ones we grabbed - she was not going to get a bathing suit - a bikini - with a frill. She shook her head at the thongs and g-strings. And she carefully considered some before rejecting them because the colour or the cut were wrong.

Finally we settled on 4 different bikinis she'd try on. As Kristi entered the change room, Pandora called out, "And you have to model them for us all!" We took up all three chairs in the empty hallway outside of the store's four change rooms.

We all leaned back and relaxed, though I didn't lean back too far in my panty-less state, and I carefully kept my legs together - I was very aware of the mirrors on the change-room doors. I could look at the mirror in front of Pandora, who sat to my left, and see Joey, who sat to her left, smiling back at me. I smiled at him before blushing, realizing that I was, dare I say it, flirting with a boy.

We enjoyed the quiet of the not-busy store, and sat silently while Kristi put on the first bikini. "I can't come out in this, the top is too small!" We sighed and rolled our eyes at each other. A few seconds later she passed out the suit, and Joey gallantly got up and went to fetch her the same suit in a larger size.

"So?" Pandora looked at me, leaning toward me conspiratorially.

"So.......what?" I was confused, but I twisted toward her keen to find out what she was talking about.

"So...what do you think of Joey?"

I was speechless, "......" She opened her eyes wide, and then wiggled her eyebrows, "Think about it, Susan, I think he's into you, and he's a really great guy."

"Um, well, um, he is nice."

Our whispering stopped as Joey reentered, passing the suit back over the top of the door of Kristi's stall. "Thanks!" was her quick reply.

Another minute passed, and the door opened a tiny bit, Kristi's head poking out, "So do you promise not to laugh if it's bad?"

Of course we told her no, and to come out, we were sure she'd make any suit look great. It took about 30 seconds of cajoling before she emerged. Kristi looked amazing, her short curvaceous body filling out completely - hell, overflowing up top - a white, yellow, and pink plaid bikini with bright pink edging and a pink belt with silver clasp. Kristi struck a pose, and we all gave her our full attention, watching her spin and preen for a minute.

"Wow," was all Pandora could say, and Joey nodded silently.

"You look great in that one, but might even need a larger size up top," was my contribution. I opted not to draw attention to how snug the bottoms were, and how clearly defined her camel toe was. I'm sure Pandora and Joey noticed as well, and looking at the smirk on Kristi's face, I started to consider that she'd planned it all.

"OK, so on to the next one," Kristi said as she returned to her stall.

The next one was a light-blue string-bikini, with the top tying off at the back of the neck and torso, and at each hip of the bottoms. It covered her breasts well, and fit her body snugly, but not too tight. She looked good in it, but we all liked the first one she tried on best.

The third suit, though, was the unanimous winner. When she emerged from the stall, we all just knew it was the right one. The forest green boy-shorts hugged her hips and accented her round ass; they were only 2 inches wide at the hips, and dipped down in the front a bit. And only a slight camel toe, as they weren't too tight or too loose on her. The sport-top was stretched around her ample breasts, and supported by two thin over-the shoulder straps; it was only half an inch wide by the time it curved around to the center of her back.

"Well, what do you think?"

The three of us sitting there spoke at once, "That's the one!", "Wow.", "You look so fucking sexy."

"Perfect. I like this one best too. And this is the one I'll get for you Susan - I hope you like it. Will you wear it?"

"I do. I think it's sexy, and I'd be nervous wearing it, but I could do it."

"Promise? I don't want to buy it and have you not like it."

"I do, I promise!"

"How about a hot-tub party tonight? Can you guys come too? My mom's visiting friends up-island and brothers both have dates and said they're going out We'll have the place to ourselves."

Joey said, "Yes," before she'd even finished talking, and we all laughed. Kristi broke it up, to the relief of the other customers waiting for a booth to free up. "And Susan - give me your best promise and guarantee this suit won't go to waste." She looked at me with a sneaky sparkle in her eye.

"Yes. For the final time. Let's see. I, Susan, give me solemn oath that I will wear anything you want tonight if you'll only stop asking me to promise, and if I break my promise, um...I don't know...I'll be your slave the rest of the night. How does that grab you?"

"It grabs me just fine, and I'm going to hold you to it. Shake on it?"

We shook. Joey and Pandora just laughed. I looked at them, "I was taught that any promise you make must have a consequence in case you break it. Kristi likes to make fun of me for always doing that."

"Cool," said Joey. Pandora just smiled and winked at me.

"OK you three, I'm hungry and bet you are too -- trying on clothes is tiring." We all laughed once more, and Kristi continued, "Why don't you all go get a table in the food court, I'll get changed and grab Susan's suit for her. Susan, you and I can settle up later. Does that work?"

Knowing it was much busier now, we thought it wise to get somewhere to sit and eat, and quickly took her suggestion. While eating, and before heading home, we arranged to meet at Kristi's place that night around 8:00PM. We broke up soon after, and Kristi dropped me at home. I'd forgotten to grab my bathing suit from her, but we'd sort that out tonight.

***

As soon as I'd returned from the mall, I'd swept upstairs and started reading a book I'd received, for Christmas. I had trouble concentrating, though, as I lay on my bed; I just kept thinking about Joey, and how he saw me today. And how I'd gone around without any underwear all day. And. Sigh. I'd have to start that book some other day - I'd not gotten past the 3rd page, I didn't even remember those three pages, and it was dinner time.

After dinner was finished and I received permission to sleep over at Kristi's, I retreated to the bathroom for a shower and a shave. I'd been bare for a while now, but it did take some upkeep. I was thinking about waxing, but, honestly, it scared me a bit. After my shower, I sprinted to my bedroom in just my towel, and went straight over to my closet to pick out what to wear.

I picked out my sleepwear first, seeing as we'd agreed on the ride home that I'd sleep over. Since her brothers might be home after their dates and see me in the morning, I opted for the bottoms of a pair of surgical scrubs I'd found at Value Village. They were old cotton, worn soft in the wash with ties at the waist above a slit on each hip. They were a bit large for me, and when I moved or bunched them up, a few square inches of bare skin on each hip would be visible. Not slutty or especially revealing, but suggestive of the naked body under those pj's. They'd be good for curling up on the couch or for eating breakfast. I had a tank-top in the same green as the bottoms, and added it to my overnight bag.

I opted for an old pair of men's 501s, again from the double V. I liked the way they showed off my ass without clinging like a second skin. I could move comfortably and sit without feeling pinched. I had put on some slightly sheer red panties with white polka-dots and a matching bra, pulled on the jeans, and stretched out in front of my mirror to admire my figure and the hang of the pants.

A few seconds of twisting and vanity later, and my phone rang. It was Kristi, "I love the bra and the jeans look hot. You make 'em work."

"You're using the telescope again, eh?" She must be in her brothers room, as he'd taken it back for a course he was taking.

"Anyway," Kristi continued without answering, "It's already 7:30, you're going to be late!"

We hung up laughing, and I grabbed an old men's dress-shirt that I'd found in a box, marked "1960-70's", down in the basement. It was a rough cotton/poly blend that just slid over my skin, and I liked the brown-and-orange two-inch-stripes; the collar was fun-big too.

I slipped my feet into some sneakers and ran downstairs, said my goodbyes to everyone, and ran out the door. I walked quickly toward Kristi's and arrived just before 8:00 PM.

***

I realized, partway there, that I'd forgotten my sleep-over bag. There wasn't much point in going back, and Kristi would be able to loan me something to sleep in. I just enjoyed the walk on this warm December evening. The streets were quiet, there was only the barest of breeze, and I was able to think about what the night might bring.