Playing With Fire 42

Please note that this is chapter 9 of Running Down the Rabbit Hole. I recommend you start at the beginning with Three Girls Screwing Around.

'Maybe I've been wasting my time on boys,' I mused as I snuggled closer to Amy.

'Maybe it's just I'm so sexy.'

'What about me?' I asked, trying my best to sound offended.

'I didn't need you tell me that girls are better than boys -- I've always known that. But now I've tasted you, I'm not sure any other girl will do.'

'Because I'm so sweet?'

'No, because what's the chance of me finding another girl who lets me spank her whenever I want?'

'You're such a bitch, Amy.' We snuggled closer still, wrapping our arms around one another, my cheek resting gently on Amy's. She slid her hand down to caress my bum which made me flinch -- I was still a bit sore.

'Have you still got a reminder not to let me down?'

'It's still a bit tender, if that's what you mean.'

'When you're running tomorrow, will you be able to imagine how much more it will hurt if I give you twenty instead of one?'

'I hate you, Amy.'

'I only starting training you yesterday, so I'm not going to demand an improvement. Just make sure you at least match your time from last week.'

Just thinking about what Amy might do to my bum made me uneasy. 'You're not truly alive if you don't feel fear as well as joy, are you?'

'I think you're not really living if you don't have a delectable girl to play with.' Amy released our hug and then ran her hand down my body, starting at my neck and coming to rest on my stomach. I was very aware of my breathing gently pushing her hand up and down.

'You're not really alive if a wicked vixen isn't playing with you.'

Amy took that as a cue to use her mouth for something other than words. Let's just say we were both feeling a lot more vibrant by the time we got out of bed.

We both had plans already for that evening, so after a rushed breakfast, we said our goodbyes until the next day.

When Melanie came to pick me up, I was still a bit bleary eyed. It was too early for a Saturday -- well too early for any day by my standards, but this week's meet was a couple of hours away so we needed to leave early. Amy was in the front seat, so I got in the back, and was surprised to find Zoe already there.

'Have any of you been to this ground before?' Zoe asked. 'I just think I better warn you. Ruth used to live near there and she says that the showers are like last time. So I'm sorry, but it might be a bit of a smelly ride home.'

Zoe ran the fifteen hundred metres, so I could see where she was coming from.

'That won't bother you two, will it?' Melanie asked.

'Yes it bloody well will. Who wants to spend two hours in a car drenched in sweat?' I replied. I knew I wasn't going to need a shower after my sprint -- but that didn't mean I was going to make life easy for the rest of them.

'I meant you two won't be shy when it comes to getting in the showers, will you?'

Call me thick, but it was only then that I remembered I'd agreed to a dare -- the one that Amy had given to Melanie before she'd passed it on to me: the next time there were open showers at a meet, I had to use them.

Zoe looked a bit startled -- she was looking at me, no doubt waiting to see what I'd say.

'Zoe, why don't you just grin and bare it?' Amy asked, turning round to face her. 'It'd be a lot kinder on our noses that way.'

Zoe looked from me to Amy. I don't think the idea of anyone, let alone her, ever showering in the open had even occurred to her. 'Let's just see how things go,' she said vaguely, no doubt desperate to change the subject.

This time my event was one of the first ones -- I guess that was good as it then gave me the rest of the day to choose an opportune time to do my stunt. Or maybe it was bad, as I might end up spending the whole day stressing about it and putting it off. I'd certainly thought about it plenty while we were in the car. I didn't think I minded too much, as surely at least one or two other girls would be joining me -- even if they were a bit apprehensive. It was quite a chilly day, but we were all serious competitors so would be giving it our all. Surely no one would want to go home unshowered, at least not if they'd run one of the longer distances.

So, I figured out that my best two options were to take a shower right after my event and hope there was no one around -- or no one from my club anyway. Or to take one after the eight or fifteen hundred metres and hope I wasn't the only one. That of course opened up the possibility that I'd be showering together with Amy or Zoe, or maybe both. If it was with Amy, I'd have to work hard on playing it cool and not showing that I was interested in her body. That would be a tough one. If it was with Zoe, well I guess if she was getting naked too, what did I have to worry about? I think my biggest fear was of being caught naked by fully dressed teammates -- that would be the oddest dynamic -- though perhaps the most exciting too. Maybe I ought to go for that one.

I was warming up ready for my event when I caught sight of Amy. She was sitting amongst a group of our teammates, but she'd started to brush her hair. She hadn't said anything to me since Thursday about it, but this was clearly a not so subtle reminder of the consequences of me not running fast enough. Mind you, I probably needed it -- last time I'd been running like mad because I was desperate to keep at least some of my clothes on, so if I was going to match that time, I needed another massive incentive.

Only the merest hint of a bruise remained on my bum -- a slight yellow patch was just about visible, but only if you looked carefully, but I could still feel it when I sat down. I tried my best to imagine how much fucking agony I'd be in if I got twenty whacks instead of one. I knew that that was bound to cause horrible bruising, and no doubt I wouldn't much enjoy sitting down for quite some time.

Much as I knew it would hurt like fuck, I was a bit tempted to slack off just to find out, even though I was sure I would regret it. Would that amount of pain be worth it just so I could taste all that trepidation, so I could lie naked across Amy's lap and let her totally humiliate me? Letting Amy cause proper damage to my body would be another big step along whatever road I seemed to be following, but when it came down to it, I really wasn't brave enough to choose that option on purpose.

I must have been in a bit of a day dream, because it took Melanie shouting at me before I realised everyone else was lining up on the starting blocks. There were only seven of us this time, so there were no heats. Crouching down amongst the other girls, I focused on how much that one whack had hurt, and on the image of me presenting myself in front of Amy to receive many more. Despite my ambivalence about what I really wanted the outcome to be, those thoughts really did fire me up. I knew this race counted for something, and I burst off the starting blocks like I was full of rage, and pounded down the track. It almost felt like I was going to break something, or maybe take off, I was pushing it that hard.

Well, it turned out I came in second, which was amazing for me -- I like running but I've never really been a champion. I was confident I'd beaten my time from the last meet, but it turned out I hadn't. I'm still not sure what happened, maybe something was up with whoever did the timing. Anyway, I came in at 12.3 seconds -- exactly the same as last time. So that was a narrow escape. Thank God.

'I guess I should congratulate you on your time,' Amy said slyly, very conspicuously putting her hairbrush away. 'But you do like to play with fire.'

At least one of the other girls gave her a puzzled look, but I don't think either of us wanted to fill her in on the details.

'I guess I should thank you for your encouragement.'

'I think you could make 12.2 seconds next time.' Amy looked very pointedly at her bag, where she'd just put her hairbrush. I got her meaning.

'It's lovely to know you have such confidence in me, Amy.' I smiled at her very deliberately.

It was clear that a few of the other girls had picked up that there was an undercurrent to our conversation, but I don't think any of them had a clue what it was really about. I didn't want them to find out either, so I picked up my stuff and headed off to the changing pavilion to at least investigate the state of play.

Well, it turned out that Zoe's intelligence had been accurate, if not completely up to date. In fact, the current set up was the worst of all possible worlds from my point of view, or perhaps the best, or maybe even a get out of jail free card -- though I don't think Melanie or Amy would see it that way.

The changing room was already quite crowded, though as it was still so early in the day, there were far more girls putting on their sports kit than taking it off. I immediately went off to investigate the showers, so at least I knew what I was going to be facing. Well, they were completely deserted, and shower heads were lined up along the wall of one big, open room, just like Zoe had said. Except that they had made a concession to modern sensibilities by adding shower cubicles on the other side of the room. So, that gave you the choice of privacy if you wanted it, but it would also make clear that if you chose the other side, you really wanted to be seen, or at least that you just didn't give a fuck -- you couldn't say you were only exposing yourself out of necessity. You'd also be showering in full view of any girls who were on their way in or out of the cubicles -- quite a spicy predicament from my point of view.

I could of course argue that this wasn't quite the open shower setup that Amy had made the dare about -- were these facilities really the same as the ones from last time? Even if I did use that as an excuse to wiggle out of the dare, and no doubt have Melanie and Amy make their disdain very clear, I'd only be putting it off till another time. No, I was going to get things over and done with today, and if I wanted to make life easy for myself, there was never going to be a better moment than now, while no one else was making use of the facilities.

'We thought you might like some company.' That was Melanie's voice. I turned round to see her grinning at me, and Amy stood next to her with a somewhat enigmatic expression on her face.

'Isn't the point to shower after your event, not before?' I asked, deliberately misunderstanding her.

'Yes, we're only here to check up on you really -- it wouldn't be fair to let you complete your dare and not have witnesses to prove it,' she replied.

'There doesn't seem to be anywhere to hang your towel either,' Amy added. 'So I don't mind keeping hold of your stuff for you.'

She was right -- no one seemed to have thought of making anywhere to put your towel or your clothes, but I also didn't trust either of them not to run off with everything -- they'd no doubt find that very amusing.

I hesitated for a bit, not sure what to do. You might think me stupid, but I was really nervous about taking off my clothes. I mean, Melanie had seen me naked on more than one occasion, and Amy and me had gone much much further, but for whatever reason, getting naked then and there was freaking me out a bit. Maybe it was the presence of all the other girls just around the corner -- any of them could walk in at any moment -- there was only an open doorway separating the showers from the changing room. And if they saw Amy and Melanie watching me, like as not they'd rightly think I was doing some sort of dare, not just getting clean.

Mind you, if that had been all that was holding me back, I think I'd have found the courage to go through with it. No, the thing is, while I was feeling a bit flustered at the thought of stripping off in front of Melanie, and even more so at the thought that other girls might see me too, I couldn't stop picturing myself stark naked in front of a whole host of girls all queuing up to use the cubicles. That was as electrifying as it was terrifying, and was I ever going to get a better chance to put it into action? How often would I totally legitimately be able to strip off in front of a load of other girls, having a perfectly reasonable excuse for doing so? I mean, imagine chatting away casually, flaunting my body confidence in front of girls who were revealing their prudishness by queueing up for a cubicle rather than taking an empty space next to me. That of course assumed that the private option would be much more popular than the public one -- but based on Amy's report from last week, I was sure I could be confident of that.

'You're too kind both of you, but I'd forgotten that the 200 metres is on now -- I want to see how Becky does.' And with that I walked straight off.

'Maybe Hannah's fearlessness has evaporated,' I heard Melanie say behind my back.

After the 200 metres, it wasn't long until Melanie's high jump (she came fourth), then Amy's 800 metres was in the middle of the day. There were seven other girls in Amy's race, so the track was full. I asked Amy if she wanted an incentive to speed her on her way, but she didn't take me up on the offer. Maybe she should have, as she came in seventh -- not a great result. She did seem to have tried her best though -- she was bathed in sweat and looked quite exhausted afterwards. She came and sat down next to me and Melanie so we could cheer on Zoe, who was just getting into place for her 1,500 metres.

I really wasn't sure how good a runner Zoe was as I'd missed her event last time. I wasn't sure if maybe she was just in it for a bit of fun. She certainly looked very relaxed as she went off to find her starting lane, smiling and exchanging a few words with some of the other runners. By the end of the first lap, Zoe was in last place, and the distance between her and the next runner seemed to be growing, so I'd pretty much written off her chance of winning. But then, somehow or other, she gained little by little, reaching second place before sprinting like mad down the home straight. She caught the girl in the lead, and the result was so close that I wasn't sure who'd won.

'Fuck!' Zoe said as she came up to us looking exhausted. 'She won by a nose.'

'Right, I'm off to get changed,' I announced, gathering up my stuff. I half expected Amy and Melanie to come with me, but I was glad when no one else made a move. I guess maybe Amy still wanted a bit of time to recover from her own race, and I think Zoe definitely did. I was glad though, as what I was about to do might be a bit easier if my friends weren't in attendance. That didn't stop me from being terrified as I walked across the field -- my legs felt like jelly and it wouldn't have surprised me if they'd collapsed on me.

The changing room was packed full of girls in various stages of undress, from their undies upwards, plus one or two wrapped in towels. I was pleased to see that there were a few girls queuing by the entrance to the showers -- if the cubicles were all in use, that might make my task a little easier, as I'd have a good excuse for not using one. I found a bit of space on a bench to put my bag down on, and after digging out my towel and clean undies ready for later, I began to undress. I sat down facing the room so I could get my trainers and socks off, being glad that I didn't see anyone else from our club -- they'd have been easy to spot given we were all wearing club kit -- either shorts and T-shirts or a matching tracksuit. The floor was uncomfortably cold under my feet, and not overly clean given the amount of dirt that been trodden in all day.

I noticed that basically everyone stands up facing the wall while they take their clothes off -- almost as though they don't want to acknowledge the existence of all the people around them. Maybe they find even stripping to their underwear a bit awkward. But I guess I decided there was no point in acting scared -- if you're going to do something you might as well bite the bullet and approach it with your eyes wide open, so I stayed sitting down facing the room as I pulled my T-shirt over my head. Of course, I wouldn't really be doing anything out of the ordinary until my bra or knickers came off, but it was already a big effort to stop myself from trembling.

Now, my shorts were the obvious next step, but then again maybe not so much when you're sat down. Or maybe I just wanted to at least make a first tentative step across the Rubicon before my courage left me, but for whatever reason, I reached behind me to undo my bra. My fingers were trembling so much it took me three times as long as usual, but no one seemed to have taken any notice so far. I guess it's not uncommon to take your bra off when you're facing the wall -- most people aren't too bothered about a quick flash up top when you're getting changed, so what I was doing wasn't really a whole lot different. Anyway, I finally got it undone, and did my best to act cool as I pulled it off and stuffed it in my bag. Out the corner of my eye I saw a girl kind of start and look at me suddenly, then look away again. No doubt I'd just caught her attention, but she didn't want to look like she was staring.

Anyway, I didn't dare stop now -- as I'd got this far, there wasn't really anywhere else to go but onwards. I mean, I was already topless, so I'd have stood out a mile if I'd changed tack and joined the queue for the cubicles, and I'd have only looked silly if I'd put my bra back on. I had to fight the urge to just slide my shorts and knickers off in one go and get it all over and done with. Instead, I lifted my bum enough that I could get my shorts off, and I put them away in my bag before going any further. I could tell that I was beginning to attract quite a lot of attention, though I think everyone was trying to act cool, like it was no big deal, and likewise, I was doing my best to act like this was the most normal thing in the world.

There wasn't anything left to do but lift my bum up again so I could slip my knickers off. I didn't half feel exposed as I put them in my bag before immediately standing up and walking off towards the showers. I didn't take my towel on the grounds that there was nowhere to hang it -- I'd just have to drip water everywhere on my way back. Now there were at least one or two girls, probably more if I'd been able to see behind me, not doing a very good job of hiding their surprise, if they were trying to hide it at all. I don't think anyone actually pointed, but I certainly had a lot of eyes following me across the room. I did my best to walk upright and confident, though I think it was probably kind of obvious that I was avoiding making eye contact with anyone. But to be honest, it was a lot of fucking fun.

I approached the queue of girls waiting for the showers. One girl in particular was staring at me like she'd never seen anything like it, which quite likely she hadn't, not in real life anyway. I was going to just squeeze past and head straight in -- being in no doubt that the open showers would all be free, but another girl was coming the other way.

'Oh, hi Hannah.'

Fuck my life -- it was Ruth from our club. 'Hi Ruth.' She looked me up and down. 'Sorry, I'll just get out of your way.' Why do we always apologise when it's not our fault?

I backed away to let Ruth out, before heading in myself. I couldn't avoid brushing past the girl who was standing in the doorway. By this point, I was feeling really awkward, though I was still doing my best not to let it show. There were four girls waiting inside the shower room -- one of them was in shorts and T-shirt, one of them had kept her T-shirt on, but the other two were in their undies. That guaranteed that I'd have an audience for the duration of my shower, though the spectators were likely to change as cubicles became free one by one.