Barefoot Ellie Pt. 01: The Rehearsal

Ellie and John had already dated for several months when one evening, after returning from the bathroom, Ellie accidentally catched a glimpse of his mobile phone screen. He didn't notice it, but what she saw was the key to the best time of their life.

Both Ellie and John were exchange students in Sevilla, both living in the Triana district, shaped by small restaurants and Flamenco theaters. They had met at a friend's party nearby, and immediately felt attracted to each other. After talking a lot that evening, they started dating.

This weekend, they planned their next night out. As always, John would pick her up at home, and then they spontaneously went to find a small restaurant around the corner.

Ellie was an attractive, blonde girl, more of the shy type, but very intelligent. When she met John, she was quite worried how to get his attention, and once she got it, she was worried about how to keep it. She was not very experienced in the dating game. But that one evening, a brilliant plan popped into her mind, that sounded so challenging, that her pulse increased immediately.

When she returned from the bathroom that evening and saw the title of the website he was browsing on his mobile phone, it got her attention: Barefoot Girls in the City. She did not drop a remark about what she saw. Later that evening, she googled the text and an unknown world opened to her.

Since the day they met, she had noticed John sneaking a glance at her feet from time to time, especially when she was wearing no shoes at their friend's house. Now the picture suddenly came together. She never knew that feet could be attractive to men, and while searching, she learned more and more about the various fetishes that revolved around bare feet.

Eventually she found the website John had opened, and it was specialised in women that walked barefoot in the middle of the city, often playfully showing their dirty soles. She was baffled and overwhelmed with all the information, but a plan began to take shape in her mind.

She had always liked to walk barefoot as a child, and from time to time, she enjoyed a barefoot walk in the nature. But she never dared to take her shoes off in public, although at some occasions her shoes felt out of place in the warm Spanish nights. Afraid of the looks, she never even spared a thought to really taking her shoes off outside, especially not in the middle of city. She realized that her idea was a big challenge, especially for herself, and required her to overcome her own timidity.

For her plan to succeed, she needed to be prepared. A few days before their date, she had to go shopping for groceries and took the opportunity for a rehearsal. Carefully, she painted her nails in a dark red and and watched the result in the mirror with satisfaction. Her feet were as slender as her body, with her toes a bit longer than average, and looked well trained. When leaving the flat, she nervously stuffed her sandals in her bag and stepped over the doorstep in her bare feet for the first time in her life.

It was already dark when she left the house and her bare soles touched the still hot ground of the sidewalk. Immediately, she felt the warmth crawling up her legs and her heart started to pound. On the one hand, it felt extraordinary and out of place, while on the other, the concrete beneath her feet felt familiar and intimate.

Her first steps were still insecure, and with her eyes down she continued her way to a supermarket a few minutes away that she rarely every used.

A few minutes later, her heartbeat steadied, and she began to look around. She was surprised that most people seemed to pay no attention to her missing footwear. She registered some questioning looks, specially by some older people, but also some very interested glances from some males, and some girls with very high heels gave her envious looks.

She found the ground to be rough, but realized with satisfaction her feet were hard enough to cope with it.

When she arrived at the supermarket, she was grateful that she hadn't run into anyone she knew. She was tempted to take her shoes from the bag and put them on, but she resisted the urge and entered with her bare feet. The floor felt cold as ice compared to the sidewalk, but she enjoyed the cold sensation.

Now her bare feet were exposed to the numerous glances of the other customers. While she strolled through the aisles nervously, she had to resist the impulse to hide behind the shelves.

Remembering the pictures from the Internet, she checked the bottom of her feet and was shocked to see that they were already pitch black.

She remembered her plan and started trying out a few poses she had seen. She waited for a group of boys and girls to enter her aisle. With her heart pounding, she kneeled down as if she was having a look at the bottom shelf.

Out of the corner of her eye, she observed one of the guys looking fascinated at her black sole that was now completely exposed. Soon, the two girls also noticed and began to whisper. She stood up and as they passed, the guy kept turning his head back to her and her feet. Satisfied, she continued shopping, and queued up to pay.

Just as she had given away the last chance to move freely and hide her feet, an employee approached her. She felt her heart pounding, afraid of being kicked out of the shop. But he only looked at her feet and gave her a smile as he gathered the empty shopping baskets. Soon, another man hurried to take the place behind her after noticing her bare feet. Deliberately, she put her right foot behind her left and lifted her heel. Again, she noticed the man trying to look secretly at her dirty sole.

After paying, she left the supermarket. Somehow she was relieved to be outside again under the cover of darkness. Yet, part of her enjoyed the attention her bare feet attracted.

She decided not to go home right away, but to take a little detour through the neighborhood and let the impressions sink in. She still enjoyed the feeling of the warm pavement, and perceived the various structures of the pavement more and more carefully. She pondered over all the sensory impressions that had remained hidden from her until now.

When she was almost home again, she was torn from her thoughts by a girl's voice that called her name from behind. She flinched and turned around to see a fellow student, Anna, from the apartment next to hers waving at her. Only a second later, Anna's eyes grew big with surprise as she noticed Ellie walking completely barefoot.

"Where are your shoes?" Anna laughed as Ellie blushed.

Ellie had hoped to remain undetected, and now one of her best friends caught her in the middle of the street, barefoot, carrying groceries. "My shoes hurt, so I took them off on the way back," Ellie lied.

"Oh, I understand that!" Anna replied, "Where I come from, people often walk barefoot when it's warm, but it is very uncommon to see here in Spain."

They continued to talk about university and arrived at their house soon. Anna unlocked the door and insisted on letting Ellie go first. Ellie hesitated, as she knew what would happen, but then she went ahead. Forced to walk up the stairs in front of Anna's eyes, she had no chance to hide her black soles from Anna's view.

Anna exclaimed, "Wow, your feet are so dirty!"

Ellie felt the excitement rising again, and did not dare to reply, but only grinned at Anna. Anna laughed and wished her a good night.

Exhausted, Ellie closed the door of her apartment. This rehearsal had been much more thrilling than she had expected. Although the shy girl was somehow uncomfortable with the attention, she had learned that she enjoyed it at the same time. At least she was sure she could pull off her plan for the weekend. Now she was even more excited, and could hardly wait for John's visit.