Future Voyeur

In her dreams, she was always naked.

She was always herself, too. In real life they would be somebody else, but here she stood - completely naked among the empty hallways of the school with her body moving according to somebody else's will.

It gave some complications to what she saw. For one, when she crouched down behind the principal's desk, she was able to produce a key from the bra she wasn't wearing that she then tucked back into a pocket on the pants that weren't there. Despite her hair being cropped above the ears, she still brushed a lock of it out of her eyes.

"I'm a woman." Even if her actions weren't her own, her thoughts still were. "Slightly well-endowed and with long hair."

The dream version of her used her phone as a light to see what was going on - shining it into the file cabinet until she found the small box she was looking for. Inside was a pile of money, each denomination of bill sorted into a distinct pile with rubber bands around them. She slowly slid a few bills out, exactly three-hundred dollars worth, and then replaced the rest before shutting the box. Then, she grabbed the much more valuable item.

1,729 dollars. That was how much the club fundraiser had earned that day. A 7 could turn into an awkward 4 such that nobody would suspect the change.

"What club was that? Whose phone is this?" She thought, wishing she'd gotten a better view.

She placed the ledger back into the folder it was in before and shut the drawer, locking it with the key before dropping the small bit of metal into a bra that was still not present. It had to have been a much bigger bra than she usually wore as her modest breasts could not have possibly hidden a key between them - much less the small stack of bills placed against a cup.

She stood up, shut off her phone's light, and then slowly padded bare feet against the tile floor with the sounds of solid soles before turning the knob and escaping into the hall. Once the door shut behind her, nobody would ever know - or even suspect - that she'd managed to steal from the fundraiser. The perfect crime.

At least, it would be perfect. But Rosa woke up the morning before with her 'Detective's Intuition' readied.

...

"You sure it was tonight?" His voice whispered into her ear.

"I've already deduced as such." Rosa responded. "Today was the fundraiser, so tonight she'll skim the money."

"But what if she actually comes back tomorrow?" He shuffled awkwardly. "I mean, there are still a few people hanging around afterwards."

"People would see her coming back. Visiting the scene of a crime twice is illogical." Rosa spoke. She wanted to look him in the eye, but beneath that desk there wasn't enough room to do so. She wished they had picked a hiding spot with a bit more legroom.

"And how do we know it's a she?" The mouth just behind her ear spoke. "Maybe a man is the thief; Or at least a co-conspirator."

"They were hiding a key in their bra." She shifted back suddenly, slamming her back into him indignantly. "By the way, that's another physical clue: Her breasts will be larger than mine."

"Aha." He snorted. "Larger breasts than you. Got it. That narrows it down to every single girl in the school."

"That's inaccurate, Miles!" Rosa thrust herself backwards a few more times. "And stop poking me in the back with your... thingy!"

"That's my phone!" He complained.

"Too small to be a phone." She teased a bit.

Miles opened his mouth as if to speak, but there was a noise coming from the door. Both detectives froze in place - completely silent as they listened to a set of footfalls enter the room and make their way to the side office where the principal had been keeping the money from that evening's fundraiser.

"Are you sure you swapped it out?" Rosa asked when the other door shut.

"Of course I did." Miles answered. "You always get so nervous before a bust."

"I- I just..." Rosa whimpered.

It was true. In spite of her gift, she still felt nervous when it came time to actually follow through on her visions.

Since she was young, Rosa had always been able to see crimes being committed in her daydreams. If she closed her eyes and focused, she'd appear somewhere else - a few hours into the future - looking through somebody else's eyes on her own body. She'd then move according to what they were about to do - seeing the criminal act committed as though she were doing it herself - before the daydream ended just as the culprit was getting away with it.

It didn't take long before she started taking matters into her own hands, volunteering her services as an 'Amateur Detective' to the school. After managing to solve a few seemingly unsolvable crimes, she was quickly able to increase her fame with the staff - as well as infamy with the students.

The teachers called her their 'little detective' while the students called her a snitch or teacher's pet. Rosa didn't mind. It always seemed like anybody who openly disliked her eventually got picked up by her powers before they acted on these feelings. The girls who tried to steal her clothes during gym found a bag of her dad's gym socks and a meeting with the SRO instead. When someone attempted to dump a bucket of water on her head in the toilet stall, they opened the door to find it empty - just as the janitor walked in to see who had made such an awful mess.

Often, people would ask her how she always managed to be one step ahead. She called it her 'Detective's Intuition' and refused to elaborate - like a magician refusing to reveal her secrets. The only other person who knew the truth was Miles, (a.k.a., the guy currently sitting big spoon beneath the receptionist's desk with her) who had been her friend since before she'd had her first vision.

Rosa feared that if she told anybody she had visions, they'd think she was crazy. Even before her powers developed, she was an outcast among her peers; People thought the way she spoke was weird, they didn't like the way she never smiled, she stared off into space often. Not even her family knew she could see into the future - Miles was the only person she could trust with this information and he regularly earned that trust; He would go along with whatever she said even if she didn't explain why. The duo always caught their perp in the end.

Their next perp was currently locking up, probably placing the key back into her bra at this exact moment. But instead of stepping out of the office and into her getaway plan, she'd find two unexpected guests.

"Stop right there!" Rosa shouted, feeling around behind her for the light switch for far too long for that line to have the intended effect.

"What the hell?" The perpetrator came into view as both women adjusted to the sudden brightness.

It was the treasurer of the tennis team - someone whose name escaped her. But just as Rosa had expected, the culprit was considerably 'larger' than she was. Breasts so big that the outline of a key would be completely hidden between them, no outline to worry about.

"Explain why you are out so late." Rosa demanded. "And why are you stepping out of the office where today's fundraiser money is being held?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The girl responded.

"Then I suppose you won't mind if my partner here checks the cabinet behind you?" Rosa pointed beneath the desk.

"Gaaahf!"

There was a loud thump, followed by a muffled curse.

"I bid my tanhge." Miles stood up from the ground, holding the top of his head while sticking out his tongue.

"Miles, the box." Rosa sighed. Miles was a tall man and gave the impression of being an impending presence. But this presence was always dispelled the second he opened his mouth.

He walked past the visibly nervous tennis player, her wide eyes following him as he stepped past and bent down to retrieve the box that had just been raided. Using a spare key, he unlocked it and spread the contents onto the desk the two were just earlier hiding beneath.

"Let's see..." Rosa grabbed the cash and laid it out on the table. "One thousand, four-hundred and twenty nine dollars."

"Did you count it that fast?" The other girl was taken aback.

"Of course." Rosa smiled. Since she was young, she'd always been a fast counter - be it toothpicks on the floor, dropped change, or the number of a specific model of car they'd driven by on the way to school.

"And here's a ledger from the fundraiser." She held up the paper. "One thousand, four-hundred and twenty nine dollars."

"See?" The large-chested woman scoffed. "I didn't steal anything. The ledger proves it!"

"I never accused you of stealing anything." Rosa spoke. "Nor did I imply this was even the correct ledger."

Rosa reached beneath the desk and produced a second ledger, placing it next to the first. At a quick glance, they appeared identical - the only difference being the 4 on one and the 7 on the other.

"It was easy to remember the real number - 1,729 is rather unique - but rather than take my word for it, I obtained permission from the staff to make a copy of the fundraiser's numbers shortly after they locked up for the evening. As you can see, the copy has a different amount than the recently altered version."

"What's unique about 1,729?" Miles asked, holding up some fingers. "Is it an important year or something?"

"It is the smallest number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two unique ways." She responded automatically.

"How do I know you didn't fake the copy?" The woman demanded. "You could be framing me!"

"That would be a logical assumption, unless I could locate the remaining three hundred dollars."

Rosa stepped forwards. The girl stepped back. But when she ran out of space to step back to and hit the wall, Rosa grabbed at the bottom of the thief's shirt and pulled it up. Her breasts were pulled up with the fabric at first, but with another swift tug they came pouring out, bouncing once before coming to a full rest atop the bra that seemed to be holding on for dear life.

A stack of bills fell onto the floor.

"What the hell!" The girl yelled.

"Rosa, that's-" Miles was interrupted. "You can't do that!"

"I had probable cause to suspect that the missing three-hundred dollars was inside of her bra. It was necessary to remove it to confirm this fact."

"Let go of my shirt!" The suspect dropped her bag to the floor and fixed her clothing.

"Rosa, it's not appropriate to do things like that." Miles tried explaining to a blank look.

"It is quite appropriate." Rosa turned to him. "When an officer of the law - or in this case a temporarily permitted civilian - can reasonably suspect the evidence of a crime having been done, he or she may-"

"I don't mean legally." Miles cut her off. "I mean that guilty or innocent, that's not the kind of thing you should do to a woman - Anyone, actually."

"I do not follow you."

"Okay, uh..." Miles looked around the room. "Imagine if you were topless right now. How would you feel?"

"If I was..." The thought began to enter Rosa's mind.

At first, she felt no strong reaction to the suggestion. After all, she was usually naked when she was daydreaming and toplessness was a step up from that. She looked down at her chest and pictured her breasts bare - no strong emotions arose in her aside from a slight relief and sense of freedom.

But then, she looked away from her chest and towards the two people in the room with her. Miles, who she'd known for practically her whole life, and this stranger, who didn't seem especially fond of her for predictable reasons. She felt her cheeks flush.

"I- I understand." Rosa swallowed. Already she was becoming more aware of the clothes she was wearing, the fabric of her shirt pushing against her chest slightly and the sensation of her bra-straps digging into her shoulders; All sensations she was able to ignore when not thinking about them - a bit like when one suddenly realizes they don't know a comfortable resting position for their tongue.

"We can simply review the security camera footage at a later date." Rosa stepped aside.

"It would probably be best if you confessed yourself." Miles realized that Rosa was too distracted to finish up with the perp. "If you do that, and you have a clean disciplinary record, the school will probably only give you a short suspension instead of something that might risk you not graduating."

He continued speaking while Rosa's thoughts drifted elsewhere; For so long, she'd been daydreaming about being naked that it simply came across as normal - she didn't consciously consider the actual nudity as she didn't consciously consider the reactions of other people. But to be naked around the general public filled her with a thought she hadn't contended with before; Thoughts of being the center of attention.

She'd been the center of attention before - usually when recognized for some kind of community service. And she'd been the center of attention when being made fun of by her peers - called a name of sorts or something that wasn't technically against the rules in anything but spirit. In both cases, her cheeks would flush red, but the idea of being stared at because she was lacking clothes was a different feeling altogether. Not positive attention, but not something she'd think of as negative, either.

"Rosa!" Miles' voice snapped her out of it.

"What?" Rosa jumped.

"You were daydreaming again." He smiled. "I finished up the case. She said she'll confess tomorrow morning; So during the afternoon we can talk to the campus security team to see if she actually followed through. If not, we'll go straight to the CCTV room. If so, you'll probably have a new vision by then."

"Ah." Rosa muttered.

"Are you alright?" Miles asked. "Are you seeing something right now?"

"No," Rosa shook her head. "I was simply... thinking."

"Thinking about wh-" Miles paused when he saw Rosa turn towards the door. "I see."

The two made their way down the hallway and to where Miles had parked his car. He was usually her ride home on days where they had after-school stakeouts. These rides often included brief stops along the way for a celebratory smoothie or some fast food, things Miles always paid for as Rosa insisted she didn't need food to celebrate a job well done; Even if she ate with him anyway.

"About back then," Miles started once they were seated. "Why didn't you warn me I was gonna bite my tongue?"

"Biting your tongue is not a crime." Rosa buckled her seatbelt. "I can only witness things that are considered criminal acts."

"I see..." Miles sighed. "What if, for example, somebody were to commit a crime that wasn't illegal?"

"There is no such thing." Rosa seemed confused.

"I mean, uh, how do I put this..." He focused on the road for a bit. "If it's technically illegal, but nobody gets hurt. Or the opposite, where somebody does something immoral but it's still a legal thing to do."

"What?" Rosa looked at him. "I can only witness things that are criminal acts."

"But sometimes the law isn't so cut and dry." Miles protested. "Like if a guy steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, could you see that?"

"I have never witnessed a man stealing bread."

"Never mind." He changed the subject. "How about we stop somewhere on the way home? I want something cold for my tongue."

"I'm a bit tired, Miles." Rosa protested. "Maybe you should just drop me off at home."

The rest of the car ride was silent, Rosa filling the gaps by staring out the window while Miles eventually caved and turned on the radio. He gave a curt goodbye that Rosa didn't return before turning around and waiting to see Rosa enter her house before he drove away.

Once home, Rosa immediately did what she did every day when she got home; She took off her bra.

It was a sensory nightmare, having to wear such a garment every single day. The straps dug into her shoulders, the wires dug into her breasts, the fabric brushed against her with every step as if she were being harshly scraped by invisible fingernails that left no mark.

When she was younger, she simply tried to avoid wearing a bra under her shirt altogether. But this got her in trouble with the adults in her life who never really explained to her why it was such a terrible thing to be comfortable. When she attempted to explain her view, her mother gave some fake sympathy and claimed that every woman hated the way her bra felt. She didn't understand.

Very few people ever understood Rosa.

But now, maybe she was starting to understand them. When Rosa looked at the shirt and bra splayed across the back of the couch and then looked back down at her breasts, she suddenly felt a sense of shame that she never had before. She thought back to that encounter in the principal's office - how she had brazenly lifted the shirt of a girl she barely knew. Guilt built up in her throat.

Guilt, and something else.

...

The night sky was full of twinkling lights. Not the lights of the stars above, but various lights much closer to the horizon - a sea of flashes from cameras and the like as a huge crowd filled the stadium to see the spectacle of the playoffs. A deafening roar was silenced only by the concrete walls on either side of her, a man-made shelter from the man-made noises of a busy Friday night.

She stepped forwards a bit in her own body, but not her own movements. Another vision.

"God... There are so many people." She thought. Rosa looked out at the crowd and then back down to her naked body. She saw her arms crossed over her chest in a casual manner, wishing they covered more. Ordinarily, the nudity in her visions didn't bother her. But after all her recent daydreams, it suddenly mattered much more.

The person she was spectating looked over her shoulder at the entrance to the locker rooms, then back into the blinding lights above the crowds. They took a deep breath, a deep breath that also calmed Rosa, who gathered herself long enough to focus on what she had to do.

"Look for clues." She thought. "Who am I? What am I about to do?"

Rosa took one more breath, letting cold air fill her lungs before she ran forward. She dashed out onto the field just as a play was starting, the offense lined up for a field goal. The players were too focused on the game at hand to notice she'd made it into the field itself - but the audience was starting to point her presence out.

"Am I a player?" Rosa thought. She had been on the sidelines, after all. But she was too far out of the way to have been a benched player running out onto the field illegally. Besides, breaking the rules in a football game was far from the type of crime she would ever see in one of her visions. "Or am I about to attack one of the players?"

A whistle blew, then a few more. The kick went far off course as the players began to stop themselves short of colliding as the play was called off. Rosa was closer to them now, swinging wide around the teams as she ran behind them. Her culprit's goal clearly had little to do with the athletes as she dashed behind them, putting more and more distance from her starting point as the whistles intensified.

But it wasn't just noise coming from the referees, but the audience as well. People were shouting things - things that were nasty enough she didn't need to hear the words to know. Others seemed excited, the happy yammering of a few teenagers who couldn't handle their underage drinking. For a moment, she suspected the group of seniors in the front row of the stands to be the group she was looking out for.

As she got closer to the audience, Rosa was suddenly able to make out some of what they were saying. Words like 'streaker' and 'naked' and various parts of her anatomy were being shouted about - it was at that point she noticed a few things she normally didn't; Namely, the cold night air against her naked body.