Give it Your All

The woman cocked an eyebrow and looked at the rest of Mandy's team members. "You three would have encountered some of the same puzzles, but you're all fully dressed, so far as I can tell. Perhaps you could explain this to your friend."

"The plaid wall... I solve that by pulling up some of the cloth that was already on the wall and rearranging it more efficiently," said Stephen. "There was a lot of overlapping and crumpled up fabric. But it took a while to find all the right pieces."

"I solved the maze by keeping my right hand on the wall," added Thomas. "It was weird walking around in the dark though."

All eyes focused on Caroline. "I actually did take my sweater off for the mannequin challenge. But that was just to unlock the window into the clothing rack room. From there I used the mannequin's fishing rod to grab a couple of things and put those on the mannequin. Though it was a bit fiddly and took quite a while to get right."

"And I don't know why you didn't just hold onto your shoes instead of leaving them lying next to the trampoline," said the woman. "But I do apologize about the water coolers and the armchair. I'll get those fixed for the next group."

Mandy let her arms and head slump forward, feeling completely deflated. It all seemed so simple, so easy, so logical, now that she heard other people go through it. "Wait," she said. "What about the fire alarm room?"

The woman chuckled. "Oh, you had the intended solution there. But you didn't need to jam anything in the break room door, that one doesn't lock."

"It's... pretty strange that you would think you had to use your own clothes to solve escape room puzzles," said Stephen. "Almost as if... you wanted to..."

"I did not!" Mandy screamed, somehow blushing even redder. "This is really embarrassing for me!"

"If the shoe fits... take it off!" Stephen chortled at his own joke, Mandy glaring daggers at him.

"Hey, cheer up, you broke the record by an hour!" said the overalled woman, putting a consoling hand out to touch Mandy's shoulder. "It was a stroke of good luck that you chose the door you did—that route is normally the longest by far. And as a show of good faith, I'll pay you back for the destroyed clothing. Now, let's get a team photo!"

The Escape Artists were quickly herded back into the front room where they stood in a row in front of the overalled woman. Mandy found herself crouching in the room's strong light, making herself as small as possible. The woman produced a camera.

"What? No way!" Mandy protested. "I'm still naked!"

"And that's how you beat the record!" replied the woman. "Own it, lady."

Mandy grumbled and wrapped her arms tighter around her body, looking around at her teammates for support. The boys shrugged, and Caroline said, "Well, she does have a point there."

"Caroline!"

"What? Don't you want at least one photo? It'll be a fun memory!"

The boys concurred.

"It's okay, I won't post this one on social media," said the woman in the overalls. "Or anywhere else. You're covered in challenge spoilers, after all."

"Fine," said Mandy. "One photo. And it's staying on my phone. Maybe Caroline's as well."

The woman snapped a couple of shots before Mandy finally had a moment to convince Stephen to lend her his leather jacket. The woman took a few more photos, and the team did some different poses, Mandy being careful not to flash anything.

"These look good," said the woman, showing them the photos. Three Escape Artists stood beaming, and the fourth stood smiling nervously, desperately covering her body with her arms, skin still blotched with purple ink. In the final few, Mandy looked a bit more at ease in Stephen's jacket, but was still showing a lot of leg.

"Honestly, I liked your outfit better without the jacket," the woman told Mandy, as she was taking her number to send the photos through. "But then, I did design it." She winked. "Actually, you've given me some intriguing ideas for new puzzles. How'd you like to test my next room?"

Mandy gulped. Before she could reply, Stephen butted in and said, "She'll give it her all."

The End