Chapter 11
“I'm so proud of you!”
Yeah this she's proud of me for. Not when I got top of the class in that paper. Not when I worked every night for a month straight at that job cleaning toilets just so I could pay my rent. Nope, she was proud of me for agreeing to take my clothes off in front of a man. Jesus Christ.
“How about this?” I asked, holding out a small black thong.
“Well I won't know until I see it on will I!” she said. “Go on, let's see it.”
I took off my jeans and jumper, bringing me down to my current set of underwear.
“Ha,” Tess laughed, “yeah you don't wanna be stripping down to that!”
Screw you. “Well go on, turn around, I don't want you to see me naked.” I held my arms up over my chest for extra coverage.
“Alice, honey, if you can't get naked in front of me, how the hell are you going to do it in front of him?”
That was the whole problem. I wasn't like her, I couldn't just drop my pants in front of people. In fact, I hadn't been naked in front of anyone for over a long time.
“Who said I'd be getting naked? I'll go down to my underwear and that's it.”
“Girl, you don't know what you're packing do you. Your bod is hot as hell Alice, I'd kill to have a rack like yours, an ass like that.”
I shook my head. Taking compliments well wasn't my thing.
“Now come on, lets see it. Call it practice, like rehearsals for the big show.”
I felt so isolated, so exposed as I stood there in the middle of the room, Tess's eyes ogling me. We'd never spoken about it directly, but I swear she was bisexual, and that made me feel even more uneasy. She was my best friend, and I didn't want her looking at me in that way.
“I dunno Tess, it's weird, you're my friend. At least I don't know this guy - and after tonight I won't see him again.”
“For crying out loud Alice just take your bra and panties off girl. Look, it's not hard.”
She stood up off the bed and whipped off her top, reaching down to unzip her jeans. “OK, OK,” I said, holding my hands up, “I'll do it.”
She sat back down as I reached behind my back and clipped open my bra, letting the straps slide over my shoulders. I dropped it to the floor and begrudgingly removed my hands from my breasts, letting my arms fall down to my sides.
“Happy now?”
She traced her eyes down towards my panties, raising her eyebrows as she looked at my crotch. “And the rest.”
I reached down and pulled the lacy fabric down the side of my thighs, allowing the panties to fall lightly to the floor.
I could see her chest heaving slightly under her top, her breath slightly quicker as she sent her gaze over me. “Wow Alice, just wow.”
“Are we done?” I said, turning and reaching for my dressing gown that was hanging on a hook on the door.
“AND THAT ASS!” she explained loudly as I twisted round. “Girl you're rocking it like Scarlett Johansson!”
I slipped my gown on and turned back to her.
“Hey hey now, you've gotta sell it more than that. Stripping isn't just taking your clothes off, it's an art. You've gotta draw him in and get him hot babe, it's not about just showing him the goods straight up.”
“Yeah I know that, obviously,” I snapped.
“OK, easy, just try to have fun with it is all I'm saying. You've got an incredible figure that any guy would love, so use that.”
Somehow the idea that random strangers wanted to f*ck me wasn't overly appealing. But tonight wasn't a random stranger, it was Kyle.
“So how are you getting there? You know, without your car?”
Shit, I hadn't thought of that. “Bus I guess.”
“Babe, don't be silly, I'll take you.”
“Thanks, but I don't want to put you out.” Realistically the thought of having her take me would make me even more nervous.
“No it's fine, I don't have anything on. Do you know when you'll be done. I could wait around if you want, find something to keep me busy?”
“Seriously Tess, that's really sweet but I don't have a clue. I'll get the bus home, don't worry.”
She had another couple of go's at convincing me but eventually relented. She could be such a good friend at times, and this was one of them.
In truth I wanted to be alone right now, be alone on the way, be alone on the way back. I didn't want any part of this creeping its way into another part of my life - I wanted it completely separate, completely cut off.
It was one night, just one night that I wanted to get through and forget. Nothing more.