For Want of a Mask

"Well your loss is my win!" the driver exclaimed, putting the car in gear. "You're really hot!"

"Thanks, I guess," said Angela, hoping he wouldn't compliment her breasts as well.

"And really brave too!" he followed up. "Takes real balls to do a dare like that. Uh, not that I'm saying you have balls! I can see you don't. Well, you're kinda covering up, but I wouldn't want to... I mean, unless... ah okay... cool. Real metaphorical balls on you lady."

Angela felt mortified that she had briefly removed her hand from her crotch to stop the awkward man's blabbering. He'd probably been angling for that.

The car moved out of the mall parking lot and onto the public road, and Angela sank further down into her seat. "Um, you don't happen to have a coat, or something, do you?" she asked.

"Well that wouldn't be in the spirit of your dare now would it?" the gangly driver shot back.

"No, I guess it wouldn't."

They drove mostly in silence, the driver taking every opportunity to glance back at Angela, and Angela trying to sink further and further into the passenger seat, wishing she could melt into it and become part of the car's upholstery.

After a remarkably slow drive down a couple of blocks, the driver announced that they'd reached Tammy's house and pulled up in line with the front door. Angela thanked him before slinking out of the door and dashing for the entrance. "No, thank you!" shouted the driver, no doubt enjoying the view of Angela's sprinting ass.

Angela clung to Tammy's front door and furiously pounded the doorbell. The rideshare car idled behind her, taking his sweet time to roll off. "Hold your horses," came the voice of an older lady, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Angela glanced around anxiously at the neighboring houses, and held her arms tightly around herself. She felt like a million eyes were bearing down on her naked body.

Finally, the door to the house opened. But Tammy wasn't behind the door. Instead it was her mother. Angela took a deep breath in, but Tammy's mother didn't appear to react in any unusual way to the naked girl standing on her porch.

Then Angela noticed the stick in Tammy's mother's hand, and looked at her eyes. She remembered that Tammy's mother was blind. What a relief! She could have hugged the lady, but that would be counterproductive.

"Who is it?" Tammy's mother asked.

"It's Angela, Tammy's friend," Angela said, forcing her voice to sound normal, as though this was an ordinary Saturday morning and she was paying an ordinary social visit.

"Oh yes," Tammy's mother said. "She's expecting you. Something about trying on clothes. Come in, come in. Tammy's room is on the second floor."

Tammy's mother ushered Angela in, tapping her on the back of the shoulder. "Oh, backless is in this season, is it?" she asked. "I don't think Tammy has any backless dresses. Maybe she'd better try on your outfit!"

Angela chuckled nervously as Tammy's mother shut the door. She heard the sound of the rideshare driver pulling off. "What a gentleman," said Tammy's mother, "waiting to see you get in safe, and for no extra fee."

"Oh, he got a hell of a tip," Angela replied. "I'll head up to Tammy's room now."

Then Angela had an idea. "Actually, uh, where's the bathroom?" she asked.

"Right down the--"

A high, shrill voice cut Tammy's mother off in mid-sentence. "ANGIE!" Tammy had appeared halfway down the hallway staircase, her eyes wide as saucers.

* * *

Chapter Three: The Friend

Angela shot Tammy a pleading look. Tammy looked her up and down, raised an eyebrow, and then looked at her mother. Then she seemed to realize something, and her mouth formed an O shape.

"Come along, Angela," she said, "let's get you into something... else."

Angela breathed a deep sigh of relief and followed Tammy up the staircase and into her room, whereupon Tammy shut the door and whirled around with a look of shock and concern on her face. "Angela, what happened to your clothes? Did that driver attack you?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Angela replied. "But, uh, this is why I wanted you to come to the mall with the outfit."

Understanding dawned on Tammy. "Oh! You were naked at the mall! You should have said something!"

"I tried to, but--"

"Oh, if only I had known, I wouldn't have called a driver for you! Or at least I would have made sure it was a woman. I'm so sorry, you must be so embarrassed!" Tammy looked into Angela's eyes and laid a hand on her upper arm. "I would just die if I had to ride naked in a stranger man's car! What happened to you?"

"It's a long story," Angela said. "What were you busy with that you couldn't come to the mall yourself?"

"Oh, nothing important, really nothing as urgent as bringing clothes for my beautiful naked friend Angela should have been." Tammy looked at her with sad, empathetic eyes, but made no move to do anything else.

Angela felt very conscious of the fact that she was standing naked in front of her clothed friend, and had not been offered so much as a blanket or a towel. "Well, I'm here now. Where's the outfit you said you had for me?"

Tammy's eyes lit up. "Oh yes!" She dove into her wardrobe and pulled out a yellow dress. "I'm sure this will look great on you!"

Angela accepted the dress with enormous gratitude, couldn't stop saying thank you over and over again to Tammy, her dear friend, her knight in shining armor. She pulled the yellow dress over her head, and finally she was clothed. The nightmare was over.

Ordinarily, Angela would have felt almost naked wearing just a dress and running shoes, with no underwear on, but after her stint of public nudity, she now felt as though she was wrapped up in layers of sweaters and jackets.

"Thanks Tammy, you're a lifesaver."

Tammy said nothing, but cocked her head at Angela. "It doesn't suit you. Hold on, I'll pick out a different one."

"It's fine, Tammy, this is only temporary, until I can--"

"Try this one on instead!" Tammy thrust a blue dress in Angela's face. "It's more your color."

"It's okay, really, I don't--"

"Arms up!" Tammy shouted, grabbing at the yellow dress.

Angela, stunned, did as she was commanded, and the yellow dress flew off her body, leaving her naked once more. She hadn't been wearing it for even a full minute.

"This blue dress is much nicer," said Tammy.

Angela took the blue dress and pulled it over her head. This one was a tighter fit than the yellow one, which, if she had to be honest, was a bit of tent. Angela savored the feeling of the fabric on her skin. She turned around and looked in Tammy's mirror. Not bad.

But Tammy was more critical. "That's not it either," she said, frowning at Angela's appearance in the mirror. "Try this one."

Angela protested. She disagreed, this dress was perfect, sexy, brilliant.

"You and I both know that's a lie, Angela," said Tammy. "I cannot in good faith clothe you in something that's just not your style."

Reluctantly, Angela slid the blue dress over her head, and tried on the purple one Tammy had handed her. This one was looser, a fit somewhere between the two she'd tried on previously. It was quite tight around the waist, a good match for Angela's bottom hourglass figure, which she mentioned to Tammy.

"Hmm, I guess," said Tammy, taking a bit of the sleeve between two of her fingers. "But it's too frilly. I've got a better one."

Angela sighed and got naked once more. Tammy snatched the purple dress from her and returned to her wardrobe. "Don't worry, Angela, we'll find the right one. Isn't this fun?!"

Angela smiled weakly at Tammy, who was beaming from ear to ear. She felt like an overgrown Barbie doll.

Over the course of half an hour, Tammy had Angela try on every single dress in her wardrobe. Eventually, she settled on a slinky black number, an evening dress that was far too formal for Angela to wear about town, and clashed horribly with her running shoes, but Tammy loved it. And if Tammy loved it, that meant she wouldn't demand that Angela strip again, so Angela decided she loved it too.

The girls went down to Tammy's kitchen to celebrate the successful outfit. Tammy opened her fridge and pulled out a big carton of pulpy fusion fruit juice and poured it into wine glasses for both of them, as she didn't have any wine, champagne, or anything else other than water in the house.

"To fashion!" Tammy exclaimed, raising her glass exuberantly.

"To clothing!" Angela replied, raising hers more gently.

The glasses clinked together. And then Tammy's tipped over and spilled all over the front of Angela's new dress.

"Oh no!" Tammy screamed. "I'm so sorry Angie! Let me clean it up for you!"

Angela got a familiar sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as Tammy bunched up a handful of paper towels and rubbed them vigorously across her chest. "It's not coming out, we'll need to throw it in the wash."

"Woah woah woah," said Angela. "It's fine, it's fine, let me try." Angela took the paper towel wad from Tammy and dabbed it on her front.

"It's no use, Angie, that juice is thick stuff." Tammy was already grabbing at the dress's straps. "Let me go put it in the wash."

"I don't think that will be--"

"It's my dress, Angie." A dark glare flashed across Tammy's face for an instant, and Angela raised her arms in submission. There was no use fighting, or causing a scene. Tammy's mom might overhear, and then the only person she'd met today who hadn't seen her naked would know the truth.

Tammy pulled the dress off Angela's body by the straps. A familiar cool draft whipped against Angela's skin once more. Tammy smiled and skipped down to the house's basement laundry, leaving her friend naked in the kitchen.

Angela slumped down at the kitchen table. What was wrong with everyone today? It felt like the universe had it in for her.

The sound of the washing machine starting up reached Angela's ears, and Tammy soon reappeared, smiling. "I put it on a quick cycle, so it should be done soon," she said, taking a seat at the kitchen table opposite Angela.

"Tammy, could we get another one of the dresses for me instead?" Angela asked.

Tammy made a face. "But you look so good in that black one, Angie. It really was made for you. The others, just..."

Angela scowled and motioned towards her naked body. "I just want something to wear, Tammy!"

"And I just want you to look your best," Tammy replied, stretching out an arm to put a hand on top of Angela's.

"Could I at least borrow some underwear?"

Tammy made an even worse face. "I don't like sharing undies, Angie. Even with besties. And besides, I don't have a bra that big." She was an A cup at most.

Angela sighed heavily.

Tammy reached out a hand to touch Angela's shoulder. "It's okay, I put it on a quick cycle, remember! What's there to worry about? It's a warm day, the blinds are drawn, my mom's blind, and I've already seen every inch of you!"

These words did little to console Angela. She felt weird and exposed, Tammy's kitchen chair cold against her bare bottom. "Every inch of you." Angela adjusted her folded arms to cover more of her breasts.

"You know, Angie, a lot of girls would kill to have body like yours. We can't just put it in any old dress... it would be like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa!"

Angela smiled weakly. Every compliment she got about her body was another reminder of her nudity, made her feel like a cut of meat. But a prime cut. There was a part of her that kind of liked the compliments. Liked the attention.

"You know," Tammy said, a devilish look briefly flickering in her eyes, "if it would make you feel better, I can take off my clothes too. In solidarity."

Angela raised an eyebrow. Was Tammy hitting on her? Was she a lesbian? Is that why she seemed so eager to keep her naked? Or was this just some kind of weird game to her? Where was this going?

Tammy undid the top button of her blouse. Just then, Angela had a brainwave: if Tammy took off her clothes, she could grab them and quickly put them on. Then she'd make a break for it, and Tammy would be naked and thus too embarrassed to chase after her.

The clothes might not fit wonderfully, but Angela was far beyond caring about that. So she nodded eagerly, and Tammy undid a second button. She could see Tammy's lacy bra. That definitely wouldn't fit well, but right now Angela wished she had an uncomfortable bra on instead of total mammary freedom.

But before Tammy could undo any more buttons, her mother appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Tammy dear, remember you promised to drive me to the hospital to pick up my prescription."

"Oh yes!" Tammy exclaimed, quickly doing both buttons back up. "We have to go now, don't we?"

"Yes," said Tammy's mother. "Your friend can come too."

"Of course she will!" Tammy said excitedly. "Come on Angela, let's go start up the car."

"Okay, sure," Angela replied, rising from the table, reminding herself that Tammy's mother was blind. "I just have to go fetch my, uh, purse... it's upstairs, in Tammy's room."

Tammy took Angela's arm in a vice grip. "Don't worry about that. We'll only be out for a minute. You can come as you are."

"Yes, yes, come as you are, Angela," said Tammy's mother. "We must hurry, I need to refill my prescriptions before lunch."

Tammy, her mother, and a very naked Angela headed for the garage.

* * *

Chapter Four: The Van

For the second time that day, Angela found herself attempting to melt into the upholstery of the backseat of a car. She lay flat across the seat, gripping a seat-belt with her left hand. Tammy drove, more jerkily than Angela would have preferred, and her mother sat in the passenger seat, making casual, oblivious conversation.

"Why are all these trucks honking at us today?" Tammy's mother asked her, making Angela try to sink even further into the car-seat.

They soon arrived at the hospital. Tammy pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car with her mother. Angela raised her head slightly to peer out of the window. There were quite a few cars in the lot, so she was sure the hospital would be busy. During the trip, she had been thinking about how she would politely but firmly insist that Tammy leave her in the car. Would Tammy cause a problem? She didn't know, couldn't tell what this crazy chick was thinking.

Deserted malls and quiet suburbs were one thing, but a hospital was making things very public. Even if she had wanted to, Angela couldn't just waltz in there naked. Surely Tammy understood that. Surely she knew that she was in danger of having Angela arrested for public indecency. And then who was she going to play dress-up with? Or dress-down, rather.

"You can stay in the car if you want," Tammy told Angela, preempting her protestations, and showing that she had indeed thought of the practicalities of the current situation. "We should be back soon."

Angela smiled and was about the assent, but then she noticed a big, distinctively painted van in the parking lot, sitting between Tammy's car and the hospital entrance. A sign read "Travelling Thrift Store", and she remembered reading about it in the local paper a few weeks back. It was a mobile second-hand clothing store, operated by a local charity.

Possibilities flew through Angela's brain. She had to make a decision now. Back at the house, Tammy had probably been deliberate in spilling her drink. And the whole outfit thing had gone on for really long too. Who knew what Tammy had planned when they got back. Would she keep her promise about also getting naked? Then what would happen?

But the alternative... the alternative involved running naked through a public parking lot.

Angela made up her mind. She had to take her fate into her own hands, even if it terrified her. "Actually, I think I'll come out," she said, clicking open the car door in front of her. She cringed as the breeze brushed her bare flesh, but screwed up her resolve. "I want to see if that van has any good vintage clothes."

"You girls and clothes," said Tammy's mother. "Clothes, clothes, clothes! One would think you had tried on enough clothes by now, Angela."

"A girl can never have too many clothes," replied Angela, shooting a dark look at Tammy as she shut the door behind her. "Anyway, I'll see you back at the car."

Tammy was silent. She took one last long look at Angela, and then turned and led her mother toward the hospital.

Alone now, Angela felt sick. She staggered back to Tammy's car and leaned on it for support. She was in the middle of a large parking lot, cars all around. For the moment, no-one seemed to have noticed her, but that could change in an instant.

She crouched low and focused on the van a few feet away. Then she took off in a crouching sprint, ducking between cars for maximum coverage. Her running shoes smacked against the tarmac.

The van's sliding door entrance was mere feet from where she crouched ass-to-heels in front of a large SUV. It was open, and Angela could see it was full almost to bursting with racks of jackets, shirts, dresses, skirts and slacks. Heaven in fabrics.

Angela scanned the parking lot ahead of her. The coast was clear. In almost a single leap, she bounded from her hiding place in front of the SUV to the van's entrance. Catching a glimpse of a pimply girl of about nineteen at the front, engrossed in a magazine, she turned on the ball of her foot and disappeared into the stacks of clothing. She'd made it.

Angela buried herself in a rack of thick winter coats, losing herself in the euphoria of fur and leather against skin that was cold and had been exposed too long. She almost moaned in ecstasy, but stopped herself to prevent the cashier from coming to investigate.

Now she could relax and pick an outfit. But she wasn't going to agonize over each choice like she normally would on a shopping trip. This wasn't going to be a repeat of Tammy's bedroom. She would pick a couple of things--that skirt, that blouse--and pay for them, not even pausing to look in the mirror.

Angela took a long, frumpy skirt detailed with flower patterns and stepped into it. She had briefly considered the pair of jeans next to it, but to put on jeans she'd have to take off her shoes, and she didn't want to spend any time taking things off. Imagine: getting more naked!

The skirt now secured around her waist, she grabbed the pink blouse she'd spotted and pulled it over her head.

From a fashion perspective, the outfit was awful. Tammy would certainly not approve and neither, on a normal day, would Angela. But right now these two garments were the best clothes Angela had ever owned.

Angela breathed a deep sigh of relief, releasing the tension that had been building up inside her all morning, through every setback and moment of fake triumph. She was fully clothed, and there was no Sharon or Tammy around to change that.

Feeling calm, collected, and quite warm, Angela spent a few minutes browsing the racks. She considered a hat, a cardigan, a pair of shorts. But now was no time to get greedy. Her current outfit would be enough to get her home, barring any sudden up-drafts or cold snaps.

Angela walked up to the payment counter, startling the cashier from her magazine. "Oh, hello, ma'am. I didn't see you come in."

"That's okay," replied Angela, smiling secretly to herself. "I'll take these two items, please." She pointed to the clothes she was wearing and held up the tag of her blouse.

"You must really like them," said the cashier, punching the numbers on the tag into a calculator.

Angela nodded vigorously and held up the tag on her skirt.

The cashier nodded, punched in the numbers, and told Angela the price. A very affordable price.

Angela leaned down, produced her phone from her sock, and waved it in front of the cashier's calculator.

"Oh, we don't take that, I'm afraid. Cash only."