My fingers shakily fiddled with the loops on my jean shorts as I felt the nervous moisture start to form on my hands.
"OK THEN," Stitches strided around cockily. I stood about 10 feet away from the four boys I had grown close to over many summers at this camp. I had agreed to meet up with them in the forest behind the camp dorms. We all knew what we were here for but Stitches was enjoying himself.
"We have here," he waved flamboyantly at me, "a witch and a *pervert*. Caught ogling 4 naked boys. Cowering in a tree like a shifty, dirty raccoon."
"Raccoons don't live in trees," Harry said wryly.
"Ok well like a panda."
"A panda?"
"Whatever, I'm bored of this. Let's get to it." Stitches turned his gaze to me. "Ok, strip. Then we'll be even."
The gaze of the four boys across me settled into my body hungrily. An awkward pause followed.
"OK this is stupid," Harry broke the silence. "I don't care anymore," the pale freckled 19 year old stepped forward waving his hands trying to call it off. "You're forgiven," referring to the girl on trial (me), "I really don't care, let's move on."
Good ol' Harry, he was always the level-headed one.
"Nah, I care," Stitches countered.
"Well.." Harry's Twin brother Tom piped up, ".. maybe let's vote?".
"I already said I would do it," I spoke up trying to sound somewhat confident. This was true, they had told me their "terms" for forgiveness and I had agreed. I would strip naked in front of them and we would be even. But still, my nervousness and the prospect of standing bare naked in front of my childhood friends was weighing very heavy on my nerves at this point and I secretly was hoping desperately for them to let me off the hook now and move on from this.
"Ok let's vote," Harry said. "For strip or against strip. Who's 'for'?".
Stitches hand shot up, mind made up and eyes glazed over with boredom at all this. The rest of the boys eyes moved from person to person, waiting for another to admit that they desired to see their friend strip naked for them. Tom shuffled for a moment looking at his feet and meekly raised a hand. I stood their helpless as my fate was decided amongst them, none of them looking my way.
Harry was for sure not voting for it so that left only Rogers, the sweet, skinny, nerdy, anime-lover I had become much closer with this summer. The three sets of eyes bore into him on his right. He looked over to me and I returned his gaze. I don't know what my facial expression would have communicated to him but I could see him remembering our summer together which was spent sharing our love of anime and opening up to each other about our fears of dating. His eyes broke the gaze with mine and traveled down my body. I was wearing a simple loose t-shirt with the Venture Bros. logo on it and some well-fitting jean shorts hugging my butt and thighs. He looked back to the guys, then to the ground, and raised his hand.
My fate was sealed. The eyes moved back to me, some unabashedly hungry in anticipation and some guiltily darting their eyes around and landing on my body only briefly.
"OK, I don't care," I tried to say cooly. The warmth of embarrassment emanated from every pore in my body. I became very aware of my skin pressing against my clothes, about to be unveiled. I quietly decided on the order I would remove my clothes: shirt, jeans, bra, panties. That made sense. Once naked I would hold out in my birthday suit for about 10 seconds, hopefully come off nonchalant as if I was the cool girl I desperately wanted to be, and then dress.