Vestiphobia

Chapter Sixteen: Undressed

Heedless of Shelly's state of undress, or of her own, Lisa rushed forward and crouched to give her best friend a hug. "I'm so glad to see you again," Lisa said.

Shelly returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Lisa's back. "M--me too!" she stammered. "Where were you? What happened? How did you get back? Nice tan!"

Lisa sighed. "It's a long story. And it's not over yet." She released the hug and held Shelly's bare shoulders at arm's length. "Not by a long shot."

"We were really worried about you, Lis," Shelly said. "When Debra turned up and you didn't, I thought..."

"Debra's here?" Lisa asked. "She's okay?"

"Well..." Shelly furrowed her brows. "She's alive, but there's the... what is that?"

Lisa looked down at the pile of clothes under Shelly's butt. A light was flashing in the midst of it, and there was a faint sound of vibration. "It's your phone!"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, fishing around in the pockets of her discarded jeans. She pulled out the phone. "It's Debra!" she said, sliding her finger to answer and putting the call on speaker.

"Hello?" asked the voice over the phone. It was tinny and indistinct, but unmistakably Debra. "Shelly? Are you okay? You weren't picking up!"

"Debra!" exclaimed Lisa. "You're alive!"

There was a brief pause.

"Lisa? Is that you?"

"Yes! I'm here with Shelly."

"How did you--never mind, not over the phone. Shelly, listen, this is going to sound crazy, but Bethany came into our room and put a curse on Claire. The bitch from the party. I had no idea she was a witch!"

Shelly and Lisa were silent, not sure where to start.

"Anyway, she'd probably coming after you next! I've been trying to get through to you for like twenty minutes, so I don't know how much time you have, but--"

"Too late," said Shelly, looking down at her unsupported breasts. "She got me."

"Fuck!" replied Debra. "Okay, well, at least you're back now, Lisa. I guess that means we don't need to go looking for you any more. But we do need to do something about this Bethany situation."

"Roger that," said Lisa.

"Shelly, what curse did she put on you?"

Shelly looked confused. "Uh... same as Lisa, I think. She came into my room, said a bunch of weird words and moved her fingers around, then there was a flash of green light, and then I suddenly felt like all my clothes were three sizes too small."

"Awesome!" replied Debra.

"What?!" snapped Shelly, clutching her knees to her chest. "This is NOT awesome!"

There was an awkward pause.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have put it like that. This sucks for you, I know. But if it's the same curse as Lisa's, that means you can leave your room. Which is not the case for me and Claire."

Shelly gasped. "Leave my room! Like this?!"

From the other end of the line there came a long, exasperated sigh. "I really hate to do this to you, but we've got to have a meeting, now. Especially if Lisa's back. I've got some new spells you both need to see. You've got to get to us somehow."

Shelly whimpered.

"Hey," Debra continued, "you've got expert help from the most experienced streaker on campus! Lisa will find a way to get the both of you to our room discreetly."

"Debra's right," said Lisa. "I have so much to tell everyone. And I've found some magic loopholes."

"Awesome. Get your butts to our dorm as soon as you can, both of you. Oh... and fetch Colin on your way."

Shelly's face turned white. "F-fetch Colin?!"

"Yes, Claire's on the phone with him now. He's also been cursed by Bethany. Says he... can't see anymore."

"That bitch!" exclaimed Lisa.

Shelly sighed with relief.

"See you soon," Debra finished curtly, hanging up the phone.

Lisa made eye contact with Shelly. "Let's go."

Shelly gestured at her own naked body, and then at Lisa's.

"Right, that," said Lisa. "Like I said, I've figured out some loopholes. So it's better that we go to them than they come to us. I wouldn't want to make poor Debra and Claire streak across campus!"

Shelly cocked her head in confusion, and then seemed to realize something. "Oh, you thought that... no, Debra can still wear clothes. She did say that Bethany cursed Claire though, so maybe she can't. But Debra has a different curse. She can't leave her room."

So that's what Lady Annabelle had meant when she said that Debra would no longer be able to interfere.

"Claire's been bringing her food and stuff, like I did for you," Shelly continued. "But I guess that might be difficult now that Claire's been cursed too. Hmm, I wonder why Bethany cursed Claire and not Debra?"

"She had already cursed Debra," Lisa said. "Bethany is the witch who owns the boutique. Calls herself Lady Annabelle. They're the same person. In fact, she's also our RA, Wendy."

"W--what?" Shelly stammered. "B--but she's so much older..."

"Magic," Lisa shrugged. "I watched her transform in front of me."

"Oh, right, obviously," Shelly said, rolling her eyes. "Magic. That's a real thing. I should know..." She ran a hand down her side.

"We're wasting time," said Lisa, tapping her foot on the carpet. "Let's get dressed and go."

Shelly sucked in a sharp breath at the word "dressed." Sweat was forming on her brow.

Lisa looked at her sympathetically. "It's hard, I know." She was already rummaging through Shelly's closet. "Here, this dress is pretty loose." Lisa held up a light blue sleeveless sundress.

"It's also really short and thin," replied Shelly. "I can't wear that on its own!"

Lisa bit her lip. "Look, here's how the loophole works. The curse acts on your mind. It makes you feel very uncomfortable when you're wearing clothes, and normal when you're naked. The more bare skin, the better. So if you wear something skimpy, and focus your mind on the parts of your body that are still unclothed, like really concentrate on the air against your skin, you feel okay. It can also help to try telling yourself you're still naked."

Shelly raised an eyebrow.

"Just try it, okay," said Lisa, handing the dress to her friend. Then she turned to her own closet and started digging for an outfit. She found a short skirt and halter-top, which she quickly put on.

"See!" she said, spreading her arms in the air and doing a twirl. "I'm clothed! Ow! I mean, naked! Wink wink!"

"Did you really just say 'wink wink'? And be careful about doing that in that skirt, it leaves nothing to the imagination."

Absurdly, Lisa blushed. It was amazing that she could still feel embarrassed about flashing Shelly after being naked in front of her for so long. But she recovered herself and smiled, putting a hand on her hip. "See! It works!"

"Okay, I'll try it," Shelly replied. She looked at the dress in her hands like it was a particularly unappetizing meal that she was about to force down her throat.

"Just tell yourself you're putting on a backpack," said Lisa.

"Backpack," Shelly repeated, gulping. With shaking hands, she put her arms inside the dress and pulled it over her head. "I'm wearing... a backpack."

The bottom of the dress had barely cleared her breasts when she yanked it off again with a cry of anguish. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"Try again," Lisa said. "Concentrate."

Shelly did as she was instructed, but to no avail. No matter how hard she tried, she simply could not keep the dress on.

Lisa grimaced. Perhaps this curse was different in some way from her own. Or perhaps she had underestimated the amount of mental toughness that was required to resist its effects. She had spent weeks forcing herself to wear assorted items of clothing in their various experiments, and endured the agony of bath towels and the horrible olive dress. And under the influence of the counter-curse, she'd worn full, tight outfits. She'd conditioned herself to pain and built mental fortitude. She couldn't expect the same of Shelly mere minutes after being cursed.

"I'm sorry, Lis," said Shelly, her shoulders slumping in dejection. "It's just too hot and too tight."

Lisa pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "Maybe it's not as easy as I thought. I guess it takes time. But we haven't got time. Debra and Claire are expecting us, and I need to talk to them. If we're going to break these curses, we've all got to work together."

Shelly said nothing.

"You're not going to like this," said Lisa, "but we have to get to their room as soon as possible. Clothes or no clothes."

Shelly looked at the dress, which was now sprawled across her bed. She looked ready to throw up.

"I'm not going to make you do anything I won't do," said Lisa, pulling off her halter top. "Solidarity, sister!" At this, she yanked down her skirt and stepped out of it, naked once more.

Shelly whimpered and looked down, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. "It's easy for you," she muttered. "You're hot. And thin. You're not all blubbery and jiggly, like me..."

Lisa gasped. "Shelly!" She marched over to her friend and forcefully pulled her arms off her body. "You are not blubbery!"

"Oh save it," said Shelly. "I've seen you streak. You're a majestic gazelle. I'm a big waddling whale."

Lisa raised Shelly's chin and looked her firmly in the eyes. "Shelly, don't ever say that about yourself. You're beautiful, inside and out."

"You're just saying that."

"No, I mean it," said Lisa. "Your skin is flawless, you've got curves to die for, and those boobs! Wow!"

Shelly blushed. "R-really?"

"Absolutely," said Lisa. "I'm straight, but I still have to force myself not to stare at your awesome tits."

Shelly giggled. "You really don't think I'm fat?"

"Of course not. A bit of jiggling is sexy as hell."

"Thanks Lis."

"No problem, gorgeous."

Lisa put an arm around Shelly's shoulders and the two girls stood for a moment, feeling the air against their bare skin and internalizing what they were about to do.

"We can take the tunnels from Colin's dorm to Debra's," said Lisa. "But this building is too new to be connected to the underground network, so we'll have to do the first leg outside."

Shelly gulped. "We should put on shoes. I think I can handle shoes."

Lisa's eyes lit up. "We can do more than just shoes, Shelly! Maybe we can't get dressed, but that doesn't stop us from accessorizing--you proved it!"

A few minutes later, Lisa and Shelly stood in front of their dorm room door, steeling themselves for what was coming. They both wore comfortable socks and sturdy running shoes, and had their hair tied back in ponytails. They had also covered their faces. Lisa wore her owl mask, and Shelly had on a gold drama mask that looked like a prop from Eyes Wide Shut.

In addition, Shelly carried a small bag on her back, containing her cellphone and the key to their room. She'd also found a pair of gloves and a scarf. "This feels really weird," she said.

"Welcome to my life," Lisa replied, turning the door handle.

The streakers took off down the hallway.

* * *

"It's really chilly!" Shelly whispered.

The two naked girls were tip-toeing along a wall, still some distance from Colin's dorm. Lisa looked at her friend, who was visibly shivering, goosebumps across her skin, nipples hard enough to cut diamonds. She shrugging, feeling no different from usual.

"How are you not cold?" Shelly asked, between teeth chatters. It was late in the fall.

"I guess I'm used to it," Lisa replied.

"I still can't believe you were lost in the woods for that long! And you're not sick, or starved, or anything!"

Lisa's mind returned to her time in the wilderness. "It was better than being the witch's slave. And you know what was really nice? Not having to worry about other people seeing me naked."

Shelly's eyes widened. "Here comes one now! Hide!"

And indeed, the sound of whistling was clear from around the corner of the wall, as was the sound of footfalls crunching leaves.

"Those bushes! Quick!"

Shelly and Lisa dove behind some low, thick bushes. Their bodies pressed against each other, and they hardly dared to breathe.

The footfalls stopped. The whistling slowed. Had the groundskeeper noticed something? Lisa's mask rubbed against Shelly's. She could feel her friend's body shiver.

There was a moment of silence. Then a crunch. Leaves. The footsteps starting up again. The whistling resuming its normal cadence.

"Phew," whispered Shelly, once the tuneless whistling had left earshot. Her whole body seemed to deflate as the breath she'd been holding went out of it.

Trying not to make a lot of noise, the girls slowly extricated themselves from the space between the bush and the wall, and from each other. "Sorry Shells," said Lisa. "Nowhere else to put my hands!"

Shelly blushed as the two of them stood next to the bush. "Wow, what a rush."

"Yeah," replied Lisa, brushing down her legs. "That was really close."

Shelly brushed some dirt off her arm. "What do you think he would have done if he'd found us?"

Lisa put a hand to her chin, "Well, public nudity's not illegal, so I suppose the worst he could have done is scolded us for messing up the bushes."

"What, really?"

"Yeah, someone in the city told me," Lisa replied. "It's only illegal if you get, like, sexual."

Shelly cocked her head. "I guess that makes sense, kind of."

The rest of the journey to Colin's dorm room was uneventful. Very few people were wandering around campus that night, and so the two girls were able to make it all the way to the dorm without being spotted. Colin's room was on the ground floor.

Lisa could feel her pulse quicken as they stepped from the welcome darkness of the night into the brightly lit dorm hallway. There was nowhere to hide here, so they would have to be quick. The girls exchanged glances and dashed for Colin's door.

"Colin!" Lisa whispered, knocking softly. "It's Lisa and Shelly! Let us in, quick!" She lifted the owl mask so it rested on the top of her head. Behind her, Shelly pulled her arms around herself and looked around nervously.

"Lisa!" came the overjoyed cry from inside the room. It was followed by a loud crash. And then the sound of some glass breaking. And then a cry of pain. And some swearing.

Finally, the door opened, and the two girls tumbled inside.

"Whoa!" said Colin, as Lisa flung herself into his arms. Their lips met. After a moment, he steadied himself and wrapped his arms around her lower back.

"You're naked," he said, once their kiss parted.

"I've got shoes on," Lisa coyly replied.

"Did you come all this way naked? Where were you?"

"Yep, Shells and me just streaked all the way from our dorm to come fetch you."

"Shelly's naked too?"

Shelly squeaked, covering herself tighter.

Lisa frowned, stepped back from the hug. "Yeah, seems like all my friends are getting cursed these days."

"Well don't worry Shelly, I can't see you," said Colin. "That Bethany bitch came in here and said some weird words and now my eyes don't work."

Shelly relaxed slightly, but kept her arms over her breasts and pussy.

Colin's room was a mess. He'd clearly walked into a lot of things since losing his eyesight.

"Let's get going," said Lisa, taking Colin's hand in hers. "Hold my hand, we're going to take the tunnels to Debra's room for the meeting."

Colin nodded. "Do you think she has a spell that will let me see again?"

"I think it might be... more complicated than that." Lisa shot Shelly a knowing look. "But we'll get it back. Whatever it takes." Lisa narrowed her eyes with determination and slid her mask back down over her face. "I'm going to need you to compliment my outfits."

* * *

Colin's dorm was close to Debra's, especially via underground tunnel. The two naked girls and the blind boy rushed through the dark, musty corridors, Shelly's scarf flowing behind them. After a little trial and error, they found the entrance to Debra's dorm building and ascended. Abandoning the concealing darkness for the fluorescent lights was daunting, but at least now Lisa and Shelly were able to push Colin out in front of them.

The door to Debra and Claire's room opened on the first knock, and Debra ushered them in. Her hair was all over the place and there were deep lines under her eyes. She clearly hadn't been getting much sleep, though she was dressed in flannel pajamas.

A broad smile at the sight of her friends brightened her haggard complexion. Once the door was firmly shut, Lisa and Shelly removed their masks to return her smile. Colin smiled politely in the wrong direction.

Debra pulled Lisa into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was afraid the witch had captured you..."

"Well, she kind of did," said Lisa. "I got away. But what happened to you? You just... disappeared! There was smoke coming off your clothes! I thought... I thought..."

Debra's expression turned into one of alarm. "I should have warned you about that, I guess. But to be honest, I'd forgotten about it."

Lisa made a face. "I don't understand."

Debra motioned towards Claire's bed. "Take a seat, we've got a lot to discuss."

Lisa sat down. "Hey Claire," she said, to the bed's other occupant, who nodded at her, smiling sadly. She was dressed in her standard athleisure wear, a tight-fitting, midriff-baring black top and leggings, and was sitting in a very stiff, upright position.

Shelly sat down on the bed at the other end of the room, and Colin took one of the girl's desk chairs. Debra strode into the middle of the room and officially opened the meeting. "First order of business: answering Lisa's question."

Lisa leaned forward in anticipation.

"My mom got me started with magic. She's... not around any more. One of the first things she did when I started learning was cast a ward on me, to keep me safe. If I'm ever in the presence of powerful, hostile magic, and it's too much for me to handle, the ward kicks in and transports me back to a safe place. That's what happened in the boutique."

Lisa nodded. "That must take a lot of magic."

Debra did a double-take. "Y-yes, it does. That's... very perceptive. The truth is, the ward only activated after she passed away. It's kind of like... I have a piece of her, all around me, even now."

"That's really special," said Shelly. "Your mom must have loved you a lot."

"She did," Debra replied, looking up at the ceiling. "But the boutique witch--Annabelle, that's her name--is very crafty. The air of her shop is thick with her own wards, and one of them caught me before I teleported out of there."

Lisa cocked her head. "But you're wearing clothes."

"Oh, I was scared of that. When I found myself back in my room, naked, the first thing I did was put on some clothes, just to see if I'd been hit by your curse, Lisa." Debra tugged at her pajama top. "I wasn't."

"No need to rub it in," Lisa said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Debra smiled at Lisa. "I'd prefer if I had been, honestly. Instead, Annabelle's magic seems to have twisted and amplified my mom's ward. Now, instead of being transported back to my room when I'm in danger, I simply can't leave. Here, let me demonstrate."

Debra marched forward and pulled open her door, causing the naked girls in the room to shrink back. She took a step forward and appeared to hit an invisible wall. "Ow!"

"Wow," said Lisa. "Shelly told me you couldn't leave your room, but I didn't expect it to be that literal."

"Yeah, it sucks," replied Debra. "And before you ask, I've tried it naked as well. Watch."

At that, she pulled off her pajama top and pushed down her pajama bottoms before trying to walk through the door again, with the same result. "See? This curse won't even let me embarrass myself in public!" She closed the door and returned to the other end of the room, not bothering to dress again.

Colin sighed. "I can't believe there are three naked girls in here now, and I had to be blind."

Shelly blushed and Debra rolled her eyes. "Careful mister," Lisa said playfully.