This is the seventh chapter of the Saturday Night School series, by Jessica Tang-Von Harper.
*
Our story so far:
Charlie Tucker is a high school senior who spends most of his Saturdays editing videos in the AV room at Pine Hills High School. One Saturday, he discovers cheerleader Michelle Santos walking naked through the school. After overcoming her embarrassment at being caught, Michelle reveals that she has a fascination with being nude in public, and she and Charlie enter into a secret relationship centered around Michelle's experiments with streaking.
Tired of the secrecy, Charlie decides he wants a real girlfriend, and he asks junior Ronni Arthur to go to the prom with him. Michelle, hurt that she wasn't asked, agrees to go to the prom with football player Glenn Mack. Charlie and Michelle meet and agree that their secret affair is over.
But when Charlie finds out he has an interview for the film program at Jefferson University, he asks Michelle to come with him to the interview instead of Ronni, and the two of them have a wild sexual encounter on the train ride back. Unfortunately, Glenn's best friend Cody sees them and takes a video of them kissing on the train station platform.
In an effort to split up Charlie and Michelle, Cody first threatens Charlie before school, then sends the picture of Charlie and Michelle kissing to Ronni. When Ronni confronts Charlie, he ends up spilling the whole story to her, and rather than being mad, Ronni seems sympathetic and supportive. Ronni suggests that Michelle could indulge her fetish for public nudity at Greenholt Gardens, where Ronni's older brother is the night watchman. Ronni claims the garden is completely empty at night.
Michelle tries to placate Cody by telling him that Charlie is just a friend to her. She goes to Charlie's house where he is alone for the evening, and to demonstrate that she doesn't really see him as "just a friend", she spends the whole evening naked. Charlie's mother comes home unexpectedly, and in a panic, Charlie has Michelle flee out the front door - while she is still naked!
*****
Charlie was almost to the kitchen when he stopped suddenly. He looked back towards the front door.
The porch light was on. Michelle was standing on the front porch naked, under a bright white bulb. He might as well have left her on a stage lit up with a spotlight.
He took a step towards the switch for the porch light, but hesitated again.
His mom had just come in through the garage door. She'd seen the porch light was on when she drove up. If he turned it off now, would she notice it was off? She'd see the dark front windows. Would she wonder why the light was now off? Would she look outside?
He shook his head sharply. He'd figure that out if it happened. For now, he needed to give Michelle some shadows to hide in. He swiftly crossed the room to the front door and flipped the switch off. The porch light went out.
"Charlie!" his mom called from the kitchen. "Come in here!"
"Just a sec!" Charlie called back. He would need a reason to go outside for a few minutes. Something left in his car, maybe. Michelle's dress was still hidden up in his bedroom. Was it small enough that he could bundle it up, hide it as a bulge in his pocket? Hide it in a bag? How could he explain it if his mom caught him smuggling a stray dress out of his room?
What, mom? This dress? Oh, it belongs to the naked girl outside. I'll go deliver it to her.
Charlie shook his head. He would bring Michelle one of his jackets instead. If she zipped it up, she would show a lot of leg but all her important parts would be covered.
Charlie entered the kitchen. Mrs. Tucker stood at the counter cutting a slice of chocolate cream pie into halves. "Hey, Charlie." She smiled at him. "You gotta have a taste of this pie. It's the best. Ed brought it in."
"You're home early?" Charlie tried to sound casual.
"Yeah. It went fast. But Marsha said she'd still pay us for the full shift. Did you eat?"
"I made a pizza."
"Oh, good. Let's sit at the table and have some dessert. This pie is amazing." Mrs. Tucker carried the two slices of pie to the table.
"Umm... sure." Charlie cleared his throat. "But I need to run out to my car for a minute..."
"First take a bite. You gotta try the pie. It's so good."
Charlie glanced anxiously over his shoulder, imagining Michelle shivering, crouched naked on their welcome mat just outside the front door. "I better just run out to my car," he said. "While I remember. If I don't do it right away, I'll forget."
Mrs. Tucker chuckled. "Right. And then you'll be in bed about to sleep, and all of a sudden it'll hit you, that thing you forgot to do. Happens to me all the time."
Charlie couldn't stop himself from imagining that scenario. Cozy in bed, about to sleep. Thinking, was there something I've forgotten? All of a sudden... oh my god! Michelle is still naked outside! He would scramble down the stairs, unlock the door, find her still sitting naked on his front porch, waiting for him. She'd probably never talk to him again.
But what if he came out around midnight, stammering apologies, and she stood there naked, waiting patiently on the front porch with a smile on her face. What if she stood out there for hours, obediently waiting, willing to stand there naked and wait for him for as long as it took, without any concern for who saw her?
Awful. How could he contemplate such a thing? He needed to rescue her as soon as possible. "I'll be right back," he said, and left the room before his mom could argue.
He went to the hall closet and found an oversized black hoodie which he hadn't worn in a while. It zipped in the front, and he thought it was big enough that Michelle could lose herself in it. He put it on and walked swiftly to the door, expecting his mom would appear at any moment to say something else to delay him. But she stayed in the kitchen, and Charlie quickly pulled open the front door and stepped out. He closed the door quietly behind him.
Michelle sat a few feet from the door, just under the main living room window, which thankfully always had the curtains closed. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees. The shadow of the porch railing crossed over her body, obscuring her somewhat from view.
"Hey," Charlie whispered. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she whispered back. She stretched her legs out and slowly rose to her feet, while Charlie quickly removed the hoodie. He offered it to her and she took it from his hand.
"I was sitting here," she murmured, slipping her arms into the hoodie, "trying to decide whether you put me out the front door on purpose."
"I'm sorry..." he said. "No one saw you, did they?"
"No one. But I'm glad you turned out the light." She left the hoodie barely clinging to her shoulders and made no effort to zip it closed, so that the front of her body was still completely exposed. Charlie had imagined that she would huddle under the dark fabric like a shapeless blob with lovely long legs. But apparently she wasn't in any hurry to cover up.
At least the hoodie could be closed quickly if someone appeared.
She faced the street. "On purpose like a test," she said. "To see if I would let you put me outside like this. And I did let you. But it wasn't on purpose, was it? It was just the first thing you thought of to do."
