The Game

Henry nodded again, but he seemed to be confused.

"Ok. Why are you telling me all of this though? What do you want me to do?"

This time I batted my eyelashes as I looked up at him, and coyly twirled a strand of hair around my finger.

"Well, because it will be hard to get that many people in the shot if I have to take a selfie, but if I had someone to take the picture for me..."

"What? No, sorry but no," Henry frowned and shook his head, then motioned as if to continue on his way around me. "I'm not going to interrupt a lecture like that, I might get in trouble."

Jesus Christ I thought, what had happened to first year students? Back in my day we spent our opening term exclusively drinking, partying, and generally getting up to as much mischief as possible, we certainly didn't worry about getting into trouble like this nerd. For a moment I judged Henry's cowardice as he stepped away, but then I remembered that I still needed him and blocked his path again, this time by planting my hands on his chest.

"Wait Henry, wait. I haven't told you the best bit yet, have I?"

Henry's previous concerns seemed to wane slightly as he looked down into my big, pleading puppy eyes, and I guessed that having an attractive girl pressing their tits into his body was an exciting novelty for him.

"Umm, no? What's the best bit?"

I rose onto my tiptoes until my lips where an inch or so from his earlobe, then softly whispered in the most seductive and alluring murmur I could conjure up.

"Well, when I take the photo, the rules say that I have to be totally naked..."

That did the trick. Henry gulped as he tried to clear his suddenly dry throat, and when I looked down to open my phone's camera app I swear I could see a small tent beginning to form at the front of his trousers.

"So what do you say Henry, are you up for the challenge, or do I ned to go and find someone else to help me instead?"

Men are so funny, so easy to toy with, and that last line was clearly the final incentive that Henry needed to get onside.

"No, don't worry. I'll do it. I'll take the photo."

"Perfect."

*****

A minute later we'd rehearsed the admittedly uncomplicated plan a couple of times, and I'd reassured Henry that everything was going to be ok. Considering that he only had to act as the photographer for my ridiculous stunt he was still far more visibly nervous than me, but to be honest I didn't mind as that meant I could forget about just how stressed I was starting to feel.

"So, Henry, are you ready?"

My new friend did a double take at my admittedly stupid enquiry, then stared at me incredulously.

"Me? Am I ready? Are you?"

It was a valid question.

"Yeah I think so, but seriously though, when we get in there you need to make sure you don't fuck it up, I really need that photo ok? And I am not willing to do this thing twice."

"Yes, I'll focus, don't worry."

I frowned at him accusingly.

"You sure?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then..."

I made a move to open the door which would lead us straight into the lecture hall, but annoyingly I found that my legs had decided to stop working. It seemed that deep down I wasn't as ok with my plan as I was letting on, but I played off my stage fright by tapping my chin thoughtfully and pretending to think.

"What do you reckon Henry... take everything off in there, or out here?"

Henry thought for a moment, and I realised that this was the best decision he'd ever had to consider.

"Well have you ever stripped off infront of 100 people before?"

I mean kind of right, in the first game last night? But I guess that had been in the dark, so no not really.

"... I have not."

"Well then..."

I had to admit that although Henry was boring he was probably also right, if I got inside and then had to undress there was a very good chance that I'd just freeze up on the spot. But if I got naked outside then it might be easier to just burst through the door and hope that the adrenaline would kick in quickly and power me through. Well, marginally easier perhaps.

"Ok... fuck it. Let's do this thing."

I kicked off my sandals and before I could think about it tore my dress up from around my knees and aggressively tugged it over my head. The fabric caught on my long hair and so for a moment I was trapped in a ludicrous pose as I tried to untangle myself with my naked body totally on display, but then finally I was free and my clothing joined my footwear in a heap on the floor.

'Holy shit...'

Henry gawked stupidly at my nude figure as I reached out for the door handle, and I briefly wondered if this was his first time seeing a girl without anything on. He had been correct though, now that I was undressed my fight or flight reflex had fully kicked in and I was able to burst into the lecture theatre before my brain told me to stop and cover up.

"And so in regards to the attitudes of the Athenians, the important thing is to..."

The old lecturer's attention was stolen from his boring slides by the sound of the door being barged open, but when he turned his head expecting to see a late student shuffling in he was instead stunned to be greeted with the view of me rushing towards his desk. Although I had my hands clamped over my body it was blatantly obvious that I was totally nude, and compared to the fully dressed professor and the countless students I stuck out like a sore if sexy thumb.

"Err... excuse me, you need to get out of here, now."

"Sorry, sorry, but I just need to..."

I awkwardly whispered my apologies as I scuttled past the increasingly agitated man and stood in front of the first row of occupied seats. I risked a quick glance up and cringed when I saw the sea of wide eyes and open mouths which were all aimed in my direction, and I quickly regretted every one of the decisions I'd made throughout my life which had led me to this exact moment.

The girls all looked scandalised or judgemental, the boys looked exclusively excited and eager, and when I saw one pull out his phone I knew that my identity might not stay anonymous for long unless I acted quickly. That unwelcome sight immediately made me jump back into action, and in a panic I span round so my back was to the students.

"Henry! Now!"

I hissed urgently at my amateur cameraman and quickly forced my arms down to my sides so he could take a couple of quick snapshots, then a moment later all my adrenaline and bravado suddenly flushed out of my system and the awful humiliation and shame of my actions came crashing down onto me.

"Get out of my lecture, right this minute! I'm calling security!"

This time I didn't need to be told twice, and with the lecturer's angry words ringing in my burning red ears I wrapped my arms around myself once again and fled back towards the exit. I burst out of the door and immediately bent to retrieve my dress, which was still lying tangled in a pile on the lobby's floor.

"Fuck's sake..."

I cursed as I struggled to unravel the twisted mess of fabric, then from one of the corridors which led into the foyer I heard footsteps and voices which were quickly growing louder.

"Come on Laura..."

My hands were shaking, partly from the shock of what I'd just done, but mainly from the fact that I was still squatting stark naked in the middle of my university complex, and I just couldn't get the damned dress the right way round. The owners of the voices suddenly appeared around the corner as a crowd of parents, who were being shown around the campus' facilities, strolled into the foyer.

"Shit!"

I gave up and just held my sundress against my chest as I rose up from the floor and ran past the incredulous tour group, who all fell silent and turned to watch me go, then before I knew what was happening I had shot through the humanity building's doors and found myself outside blinking away the harsh sunlight. As a couple of students stopped when they noticed my unconventional state of dress I ducked behind a large plotted plant and frantically unravelled my sole item of clothing, which took far longer than it should have because my hands were still trembling.

After what felt like an eternity I found the neckline and quickly tugged the fabric over my head, then I stumbled to my feet and smoothed down the hem as I finally regained my dignity. I had just started to look around for my shoes when Henry appeared around the corner with my sandals dangling from his hand. He held them up and shook his head disbelievingly at me as I gratefully walked over to him to reclaim my footwear.

"Umm, you left these... also that was absolutely incredible."

Naww, this guy was cute, but I didn't have time to hang around and accept his compliments.

"Thanks Henry... but sorry, my phone?"

"Oh yeah, here. I took a bunch."

Henry passed me my mobile and I opened my camera roll to see that yep, there they were, fifteen or so tiny thumbnails which all showed my naked body framed against a sea of shocked faces. I selected one at random and quickly zoomed in, partly to get my nudity off the screen but mostly to see if Henry had done his job properly. He'd cropped out the top two rows but even so there were still over 65 people in the shot, more than enough to satisfy the stupid Game.

"Are they ok?"

"Yeah well done Henry, you did good."

I found the best and least blurred photo and quickly sent it to the anonymous number which had texted me before, trying not to think about how insanely foolish it was to send a total stranger a naked picture which clearly showed my face. A reply was sent back instantly, which was very spooky.

"Player 17, thank you for your submission. The results will be announced tonight at 8pm. Good luck."

I sighed in relief, as for now at least my humiliation was at an end, and I was sure I'd done enough to pass. I gave Henry an appreciative pat on the shoulder and again he blushed.

"Nice, ok we're done here. I'm afraid I'm off now, I need to run before security get here."

My partner in crime looked crestfallen, and I could tell that he was disappointed we had to go our separate ways.

"OK, yeah good idea. Bye then."

"Yes goodbye, and thanks again for your help. Oh, and Henry?"

"Yeah?"

As a final parting gift I reached behind me and pulled up the back of my dress, higher and higher until I could feel a fresh breeze on my bare butt. I kept flashing Henry for a few more seconds as I walked away from him, letting my hips sway from side to side a little more than usual, then before anyone else saw me I let the hem fall back into place.

I giggled to myself as I rounded the corner and began my journey home, and as I hummed my way down the street I started to think that maybe my crazy university days weren't quite as far behind me as I had initially thought...

*****

My afternoon's adventures had got me all kinds of worked up, so when I got home I immediately jumped straight into bed, to umm, review the photos, and relieve some of the stress that had been building up in my body over the last hour or so. Ahem. After that was all taken care of I showered, got dressed in a warm hoodie and jeans, then headed out to the gym.

When I arrived the door was already open and a handful of women were waiting inside, along with the two guards. Naked briefcase girl was nowhere to be seen, so I went and stood behind my number as we waited for the others to arrive. Over the next five minutes a few more contestants appeared and silently took up their positions, but when the doors where shut at precisely 8pm I noted with interest that of the 50 winners from yesterday's challenge, only 32 had come back. Clearly the others had seen the details of today's task and thought, sensibly, 'Fuck that, I'm out'. The monitor at the front turned on again, and the masked man reappeared.

"Good evening contestants. As you may have noticed 18 players failed to return by tonight's deadline, and so by default they are eliminated from The Game. The rest of you did submit your photos on time, and we will now reveal who has made it into the next round. So, Player 5, we will start with you."

The mysterious figure disappeared and was replaced with the first picture of the evening. It showed Player 5, a short red haired girl who stood in the front row with her head craned up at the screen, standing by a tree in what I could tell was the middle of the city's biggest park. In the background there were countless passers by, playing football on the grass or walking along the paths which crisscrossed the common.

Even though she was obviously naked Player 5 had taken her photo with her front pressed into the bark of the tree, so that only her bare behind was displayed to the camera, and to whichever members of the public had seen her take the picture. I felt stupid as I realised that I hadn't for one second considered that we didn't have to take a full frontal photo, and I wondered what that said about my current mind state.

Player 8 was next and I sighed again when I saw her attempt. This girl was smart, as I could tell from the picture that she had gone to the large mall on the edge of town, and headed straight to the food court. There she had climbed up onto one of the balconies that overlooked all of the restaurants and café's which were hosting hundreds of hungry shoppers, but she'd squatted down behind a big plant plot so that no one could see her from below. Again she had her arms wrapped tightly around her to cover up all the good bits, and her submission was quickly given a pass.

Over the next few minutes all of our photos were beamed up onto the big screen, and I wanted to die when my totally naked body appeared projected in high definition onto the wall. It turns out that I was one of the few idiots that had both failed to cover up at all, and also failed to get away with completing the task undetected, as everyone else had come up with creative solutions and workarounds to make sure they weren't seen naked by too many strangers.

A few submissions were rejected for having too few people in the background, and one girl was thrown out because in her attempt she still had her underwear tangled down around her knees. The eliminated participants all left the hall with their heads in their hands, and then when the last photo was ticked off the masked face appeared back on the monitor.

"Congratulations contestants, the remaining 30 of you have passed the second round of The Game. Once again the details of the next challenge will be sent to you tomorrow, but for now you are free to leave. Thank you for participating, and enjoy the rest of your evening."

Without a word we all slowly filed back outside, then hurried off to our respective homes. Two rounds down, four to go.

*****

The next morning I was focusing hard in an economics lecture, trying my best to return my attention to my studies after the insanity of the previous day, but when my phone beeped I nearly spat out my coffee as I glanced down at the new message I'd just received.

"Good morning player 17. Today you are invited to participate in the third game: 'Facial Recognition'. Before you arrive at our meeting tonight at 8pm you must find someone to ejaculate onto your body, face or hair. The 15 women who arrive with the largest volume of semen on them will be allowed to continue to the next round, and the 15 with the least will be eliminated. Good luck."

I honestly couldn't believe what I'd just read. The formal language the text used made its contents seem even more ludicrous but fucking hell, now these creeps wanted me to let some guy cum all over me? This was so much more disgusting than anything we'd had to do so far, and for a solid ten minutes I just sat in my chair seething at the depraved nature of this latest challenge.

However, after a while I started to fantasise about the briefcase of cash again, and I began to daydream about how I might go about attempting to pass the round, if I did decide that I still wanted to play. The real problem was that if I gave up now then all the humiliation and stress I'd put myself through yesterday would count for nothing, and that felt just as unthinkable as attempting 'facial recognition', despite the dumb name. Irritatingly I also immediately knew what my best shot at success was, even if I hated the idea, but I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to go through with it.

So basically, in my first year at uni I had been kind of on and off with this guy called Sean who was on my course, and who was pretty damn hot. We'd only ever been friends with benefits and we never officially dated or anything, but even so we had become pretty close during all the time we'd spent together, to the point where I'd be lying if I said that there weren't any feelings between us.

Unfortunately things had ended a bit sourly when I kind of slept with one of his closest mates, which definitely wasn't cheating because like I say we weren't exclusive, but it had led to a big argument afterwards and we had finished things off on bad terms, which I did regret.

I had thought about trying to reconcile with him earlier that term but honestly I was too embarrassed that he was on the second year of our course while I was stuck retaking everything, so I never bothered to reach out. Now however I had a much more important reason to get back in touch, and so as I ignored the lecturer going on in the background I reached for my phone and began to type.

"Sean, heyyy, long time no see..."

I winced internally as I drafted my message, as even after all the shit I'd done recently this still felt painfully demeaning.

"I know this is a bit out of the blue, but are you around tonight at all? I need your help with something, so please let me know if you're free."

I hit send and threw my phone away from me, then planted my head onto the desk and moaned. God, I sounded so desperate, and I worried that he'd think so too. To be honest though I was, and after my class finished I was getting increasingly concerned as the hours passed by and my message remained unread.

After moping around at home for a bit the clock finally hit 6pm and I decided that enough was enough, so I got changed into something a little cuter than usual and headed out. I knew from stalking him on Instagram that Sean had moved in with a couple of his rugby friends into a house quite near the gym, which was one of the reasons that he made for an irritatingly useful cum candidate.

I slowly trudged my way over and tried my best to picture the one millions pounds again as some form of motivation, then all too soon I had arrived at the address. I walked up to the front door and forced myself to knock, then I took a step back to wait anxiously on the garden path. I was actually relieved when I saw that it wasn't Sean who came to let me in, but instead his good friend and now roommate Dwight.

"Oh, shit... hey, Laura. Haven't seen you for a while."

Dwight was an absolute giant of a man, and like a mighty oak he loomed over me as he raised a quizzical eyebrow at my unexpected appearance. We'd bumped into each other a few times when I'd stayed over at Sean's accommodation in first year but we'd never been particularly tight or anything, and I could tell from the look on his face that he'd heard all of the messy details about what had gone down between me and his bestie. I put on my best fake grin and tried to smile up at him in what I hoped was a disarming manner.

"Yeah, hi Dwight. Sorry but is Sean in? I need to talk to him."

"Err..."

I could see in his eyes that he was trying to work out whether to lie to me or not, so I interrupted him before he could decide.

"Please Dwight, it's really important. I'm not here to cause any more drama, I just need to ask him something."

"Ok... fine. Come in."

Reluctantly Dwight let me walk past him through into the hall and kick off my shoes, then he pointed me up the stairs and told me to go to the first bedroom on the right. I nervously crept down the landing and tapped lightly on the door, and from inside I heard a familiar voice call out.