The Reluctant Exhibitionist Ch. 04

"You've done that before though, right?" Cindy asked as we walked toward the store. "Walked naked through a busy supermarket like this one?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Quite a few times, actually."

"Have you been naked in this one before?"

"No, not yet. But I'm sure that day is coming since it's pretty close to the campus."

Cindy let out another laugh. "Oh my God, that is so crazy. I mean, who does that? I can't imagine anyone actually doing that."

Unfortunately, not only could I imagine it, I had lots of vivid memories of it. I was just thankful to be clothed right now as we walked though the store's automatic sliding doors. Cindy grabbed a shopping cart and we began rolling through the aisles looking for items on the shopping list. As we walked Cindy kept glancing over at me and smiling until I finally had to say something. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "I was just imagining what it would be like if you were walking naked through the store right now. I mean, you would've done that if I'd insisted, right?"

"Yeah," I replied nervously. "But you'll be getting me naked soon enough at the party."

"Oh, I know," she replied. "I'm just getting incredibly turned on right now thinking about it, though." Cindy flashed me another smile and I started to get worried that she might ask me to strip right here in the middle of the store. But the moment passed and we kept rolling through the aisles with me somehow managing to keep from being separated from my clothes.

The two of us loaded the shopping bags into the back of her truck and hit the road again, this time heading toward the party site. We rode silently for a couple of minutes before Cindy began to speak. "Hey Wendy, I know you think I'm a major bitch for showing you that term paper website but I really didn't know what Nancy had planned for you. I mean, I knew she had kind of a weird fetish for exhibitionism, but I guess I didn't put two and two together."

"Well, like you said, no one made me cheat on that paper. You didn't hold a gun to my head. So are you and Nancy good friends?" I asked.

"Good friends? Um, no. We've partied together a few times but that's about it. I mean, she must be forty at least and a member of the administration but she's still hanging out at college parties like she's twenty? I just think that's a little pathetic." I was starting to warm to Cindy and I was glad to hear that she and Nancy weren't as close as Nancy had claimed. "Nancy was pretty drunk the night she told me about her exhibitionist fantasies," Cindy continued, "and it kind of weirded me out. I was afraid she might take her clothes off or something and I really didn't need to see that."

We both laughed and I was starting to loosen up a little and felt like talking. "I think she's totally nuts," I said. "Seriously. Can you imagine what it's like to be under the control of a crazy woman like that?"

"Tell me," she said.

"I don't know, but I'm just so on edge all the time, especially when I know I have one of my 'assignments' coming up soon. I'm just a bundle of nerves and emotions."

"Like right now?"

"Yes, exactly! I mean my stomach is churning right now and I've got all this adrenaline running through my body. I feel like I could jump right out of my skin knowing what I'm going to have to do in a few hours."

"Does it make you horny?" she asked with a wry smile.

"Yes," I sighed. "That's another thing. I get incredibly aroused and I just can't help it. I hate it but it's just the way my body reacts."

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Cindy said. "That sounds kind of exciting to me."

"That's because you're not the one having to humiliate herself all the time. I don't know, it's just embarrassing, especially when everyone can tell that I'm turned on."

Cindy's GPS interrupted us as it told her to make a turn. She guided the truck onto a road that led to the edge of town and remained silent for a minute before speaking again. "Wendy, I know what I did was a shitty thing to do, but I'm glad you're the one who Nancy chose. I know that sounds awful but I can't help it."

I didn't know how to respond to that so I stayed silent as she continued. "Wendy, you're gorgeous and you have nothing to be ashamed about by showing your body. You're one of the prettiest girls on campus and everyone says so."

I blushed a little when she said that. "Um, thanks, I guess. I think you're beautiful, too."

"No," she replied. "Taylor is cute, I'm pretty, and you're beautiful. There's a sliding scale here and you're at the top of it. I think that's part of the reason that Taylor has such a problem with you. She's jealous."

"Are you?" I asked her.

"No," Cindy replied. "I'm very comfortable with my looks. In fact, I think I'm really, really attracted to you." She eyed me quickly and then turned her focus back to the road. "You don't have to respond to that, Wendy. I know we never really talked to each other much besides that one party where I told you about the website, but I definitely had noticed you around campus. The thing is, though, that once Nancy got her hooks into you, you kind of turned into a hermit. You completely disappeared from the social scene. I totally understand that now but I think it made some people think you were standoffish and aloof, like a stuck up rich bitch."

"But I'm not!" I blurted out. "I just didn't know how to handle this whole thing with Nancy!"

"I know," Cindy replied. "I understand that, especially now that I know what Nancy's been making you do. But I want to see the fun-loving Wendy back again. What's going to happen today is inevitable but being miserable about it doesn't have to be. Just try to make something positive out of this and have fun with it."

"You mean turn lemons into lemonade," I retorted sarcastically. "You just don't understand what this is like, Cindy."

Cindy didn't speak again and a couple of minutes later we turned into a gravel parking lot. In the distance was a large canvas tent and some fraternity boys busy setting up for the party. Cindy shut off the engine and turned to me. "We're here, Wendy," she said. "At least think about what I said."

IV

I wandered around outside through the growing crowd trying to keep my nerves under control but my stomach was tied up in knots. I didn't know what was worse, the anticipation of knowing what was about to happen or actually going through with it. I had no idea what time our little sorority "initiation" was going to take place but part of me wanted to hurry up and get it over with, while another part of me wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

As I walked around I'd occasionally run into friends and acquaintances, but I was too nervous to engage in small talk and after a few minutes I'd find an excuse to wander away. No wonder people think I'm aloof, I thought to myself, but I just couldn't help it.

As I wandered through the area I decided that if you were going to throw a big bash, this was definitely the place to do it. This was where the town's annual Oktoberfest festivities were held and since it was just outside of town it was both easily accessible yet far enough away from residential neighborhoods that there were no worries about complaints by the neighbors. The site featured a large permanent canvas beer tent which had a stage, bar, dance area, and wooden tables. I guessed that the tent could probably hold a couple of hundred people but the field surrounding it was large enough to hold many times that. A classic rock band was playing on the stage inside but since the music was being piped out on loudspeakers, most people so far had chosen to stay outside in the sunshine. I chose to stay outside mainly because I really needed the fresh air to keep from throwing up.

I guessed there were probably at least two hundred people here already and more were showing up all the time, paying a $20 cover charge which helped cover the costs of the food, alcohol, and entertainment. This was a long way from the few dozen people I originally imagined when I first heard about the sorority party, and way beyond the relatively brief exposure to anonymous strangers that I'd become accustomed to. This wasn't going to be an incremental step in my career, as Nancy liked to call it -- it was going to be a giant leap. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since Nancy did the same thing after my first true public exposure at Sinful Delights in the mall. After building up to it slowly with weeks of naked car rides and t-shirt training, she then moved me into Phase 2 of my training by having me walk completely naked through that crowded supermarket! When Nancy decides that I'm ready to handle more she doesn't screw around.

As the crowd continued to swell I had to resist the almost irresistible urge to bolt; to just walk away and never look back. Every time I thought about it, though, the consequences kept flooding through my mind. Not only would Nancy have me expelled from school for cheating on my term paper but she now had a large collection of pictures and videos of my exploits, including a humiliating masturbation video, and she constantly reminded me that she could flood the internet with these at any time. That's how Nancy kept me on the hook -- by making sure that the pain of not carrying out her demands always exceeded the pain of doing them.

I remained mostly on the periphery of the party as the afternoon wore on. All that Cindy and Taylor had told me was that they were going to wait until the party was in full swing before I did my thing, and it sure looked like it was getting close to that point now as the sound of partygoers and music continued to build. For the first time I spotted Taylor in the crowd as she made her way toward me. She was wearing a sleek party dress and looked like she had spent hours on her hair and makeup.

"I hope there's no booze in that," Taylor said pointing to the plastic cup in my hand. Taylor had forbidden me from drinking any alcohol tonight. She wanted me stone cold sober for this experience.

"It's just ginger ale," I said. "You look really pretty, Taylor," I told her, meaning it.

"Thanks," she responded with a quick smile. For a moment there seemed to be a crack in her hostility toward me since our argument about the trivia contest, but then she reverted back to a controlling, dominating attitude. "You know, the pledges were supposed to dress up for this party."

"No, I didn't know that," I replied. "Nobody told me."

"Well, like I said I guess it really doesn't matter anyway. You're going to be losing your clothes soon enough anyway."

"When is this supposed to happen?" I asked.

"Soon," she replied. "Cindy's making the final preparations right now."

"What kind of game are we going to be playing if we're not doing that trivia contest?"

"I have no idea," Taylor said coolly. "Cindy says she has another plan but even I don't know what it is. She said we really didn't need to know in advance."

I'm not sure I liked that since it added yet another degree of uncertainty to what was about to happen, but I suppose it was better than that dumb trivia contest that Taylor had designed to make me look like a fool.

"Well, I'm going to go mingle," Taylor said. "Stay close because we should be doing this soon. Cindy will come get you when we're ready." As I watched her walk away my anxiety raised a couple of more notches.

A few minutes later I spotted Nancy making her way toward me with her friend Margaret in tow. Margaret was the owner of the Sinful Delights lingerie shop where I'd had my first public exposure and she had become Nancy's unofficial photographer/videographer of my nude exploits.

"There you are, dear." Nancy said cheerily as they approached. "How are feeling about your upcoming performance?"

"Awful," I said and I turned to Margaret. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're here with your camera bag."

"Nice to see you, too, Wendy," Margaret laughed. "Charming as always."

"Wendy, you knew we couldn't let this event go by without a record of it," Nancy said. "I've got to say that Cindy and Taylor really outdid themselves, though. This is much bigger than I expected."

"Yeah, it's way beyond what you were expecting me to do so you're here to tell me I don't have to go through with it, right?" I said sarcastically.

"Let me think about that for a moment, Wendy. Um...no. What I am here to tell you, though, is that you're going to love every moment of this, or at least pretend to."

"I am, huh. What makes you think I can do that?"

"Why do you think I insisted you take that acting class? And by all accounts you're very good at it. A natural, I'm told. So tonight think of yourself as an actress playing the role of an exhibitionist who really, really loves being the only one naked in a large crowd."

"I'm not sure I'm that good of an actress," I retorted. The anxiety had really put me on edge and I responded to Nancy more forcefully than I normally would've dared.

"Well, you'd better become one," Nancy shot back, a little angrily. "Because if I see that sour, miserable look on your face at all tonight I'm going to tell Taylor she can keep you naked all day tomorrow as well and give her carte blanche to do whatever she wishes with you." Hearing that stunned me back into understanding the precariousness of my situation.

"I'm sorry, Nancy," I told her, lowering my eyes to the ground. If she wants an act I'll start by acting contrite and apologetic even though I didn't feel it. "I'll do my best."

"Good girl," Nancy replied. "I want to see a smiling, laughing, sexy, outgoing exhibitionist tonight, Wendy. I don't care if you hate every second of this, you're going to look like you love it. Have I made myself clear?"

I nodded obediently. "Crystal."

Just then Cindy walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. "It's time, Wendy. We're going to get started now." Then she took me by the hand and began leading me through the crowd toward the tent.

"Break a leg, Wendy!" Nancy shouted behind me.

V

"Hey everybody, how y'all doing!" Cindy yelled into the microphone and the crowd cheered in response. The band was on a break and Cindy and her six pledges had now taken the stage. Well, five pledges anyway and one fake pledge -- me. Taylor stood beside me and the other four girls were dressed to the nines just like she was. In my blue jeans and t-shirt, I was the only one of the six wearing casual clothes. People were pouring into the tent from outside now -- mostly males but some girls as well - and I recognized some of the Sigma Pi sisters I'd seen at the sorority house. I wondered if they were in on what was about to happen. As the crowd in front of the stage swelled, my anxiety ratcheted up to an even higher level and I did my best to calm myself down. Wendy, you're just an actress playing a role, I told myself and I did some deep breathing and other techniques I'd learned in acting class to prepare myself. Cindy began introducing the pledges to the crowd and when she said my name I put a bright smile on my face like there was nowhere on earth I'd rather be than right here on this stage.

Cindy took the microphone off the mike stand and began working the crowd. "So this is the part of the evening that I know a lot of you have been looking forward to, am I right?" Cindy shouted into the microphone to loud cheers. "We have six hot, sexy Sigma Pi pledges up here and I know some of you guys are wondering what they look like without these dresses on! (more cheers) And you're thinking that maybe, just maybe, you'll even get a brief glimpse of a pair supple, firm Sigma Pi tits! (louder cheers) Because you know that Sigma Pi women have the supplest, firmest tits on campus!" (raucous cheers with a few good natured boos from the non-Sigma Pi women in the crowd).

The crowd was really getting into it now and as Cindy paced back and forth on the stage like a fundamentalist preacher I was thinking how good she was at this.

"Well, normally this is where we play a little game to get some of these girls out of their clothes but I'm afraid we're not going to be able to do that this year," she continued, this time to relative silence and a few scattered boos. "Unfortunately we have a problem. You see, the girls were supposed to dress up for you tonight in their sexiest evening wear. Now I won't mention any names -- Wendy Wilson -- but one of them chose not to do that."

Every eye in the place was fixed on me now and I almost wished that we'd done the trivia contest instead. I mouthed the word "sorry" to the crowd and Cindy turned to me and gave me a wink. "Now normally," Cindy continued, "this would be grounds for disqualification for a pledge to become a member of our sorority because we only select the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the sweetest fruit on the vine on to become members of our sorority. And, of course, the girls with the supplest, firmest tits. (laughter) So Wendy begged me to be given a second chance. She told me she would do anything -- anything -- to make amends. I said, 'I don't know, Wendy, you've been a very bad girl and you need to be punished.' So what do you think guys? Do you think Wendy needs to be punished?"

The place erupted now in whoops and cheers and I'm sure my face was totally crimson. An embarrassed smile spread across my face that was part acting but mostly real. "So here's what I think Wendy needs to do to make amends," Cindy said as she looked me up and down. "I think she needs to lose those clothes. (cheers) And I don't mean just down to her bra and panties. I don't even mean down to just her panties. I mean she needs to lose every stitch right down to her birthday suit!" (massive cheers)

It was all I could do at this point to hold myself together but I kept the embarrassed smile on my face as if I was willingly going along with this. You're just playing a role, Wendy, I kept telling myself over and over.

"But you know what?" Cindy continued. "Even if Wendy loses those clothes we still have a problem. She was supposed to wear a dress tonight and she doesn't have one to change into. So I'm beside myself. I just don't know what to do. I mean, I can't just allow her to put those clothes right back on because that would defeat the whole purpose of the punishment, right?" (Yes!) This is a real conundrum and I'm not sure there's a solution," Cindy said, scratching her head.

"Make her stay naked!" someone shouted from the crowd to raucous cheers.

"Make her stay naked?" Cindy asked as if the idea had never occurred to her. "But the party's barely getting started so that would mean she'd have to stay naked for hours! (cheers) Are you guys telling me you think that Wendy should party naked for whole the rest of the night? (Yes!) Wow! I guess that would be a solution to the problem. What do you think, Wendy? Would you be willing to do that for the opportunity to become a member of Sigma Pi sorority?" she asked me, putting the microphone in my face.

"I'd do just about anything to join Sigma Pi," I said and the crowd erupted into the loudest cheer of the night.

"Well, alrighty then," Cindy said. "It looks like we have a solution to our dilemma. So I guess there's just one more thing I need to know. How badly do you guys want Wendy to join our sorority? (massive cheers) Well then, I'm going to give you the opportunity to prove it. You see that Sigma Pi donation jar over there on the bar? Yeah, it's that big empty jar that has like four dollars and change in it, and I know that two dollars of that I put in myself to get it started. Well, I'm going to give you guys the opportunity to express just how badly you want Wendy to join our sorority by filling that jar up with dead presidents. And I'm not just talking about George Washington either you cheapskates. Yeah, I'm looking your direction, Kappa Alpha. (laughter) So guys, you're going to have to give up some dead old white men to get a beautiful live naked girl in return. I think that's a fair trade!" (cheers)