This is my entry for the Nude Day contest.
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are above 18 years of age.
* * * * *
Nisha was delighted to hear the bell ring at 5:00 pm, signalling the end of the Engineering Mathematics exam. She had finished the exam almost ten minutes earlier but she wasn't supposed to leave the room before the bell. She had been eyeing Neeraj, who was sitting on the bench in front of hers. Neeraj was the Student's Representative for the first year students, and he was quite handsome and charming. Nisha always looked at him dreamily.
"Hey, you might have aced this one too," said Neeraj tapping on Nisha's shoulder as they both walked out of the exam room.
"I hope so," said Nisha with a shy smile.
"I couldn't complete two questions, I hope it won't affect my grades," said Neeraj,
"Hey, now only one exam remains, Environmental Studies, on Monday."
"Yes, then our first year would be over."
"You're ready for the exam right?"
"I need to study. We have the Saturday and Sunday to prepare for it thoroughly."
"But are you prepared physically and mentally?" asked Neeraj with a raised eyebrow.
Nisha couldn't understand what Neeraj was implying, but she nodded her head just before Neeraj joined some of his other friends who were out of the exam room.
Nisha was joined by Sona, her hostel roommate and Kanika, a fellow classmate, who just came out of the same room after writing the exam. The trio had been together since the beginning of their college year.
Among them, Nisha was the most studious one. She had been planning carefully since the first semester to maintain her grades so that she could win the Student Gold Medal by the end of her bachelor's degree. Sona was an athlete and the tallest among the trio, who competed in 100m and 400m races. She was quite popular yet reserved and chose to be with Nisha and Kanika who were comparatively less social than others. Kanika was relatively average in her studies, and she was the prettiest in the trio.
"Oh, look at that girl, how smaller can her shorts be?" commented Nisha as a boy and a girl walked past them.
"She's wearing a short shorts Nisha, don't be such a prude," said Sona.
"It's Rita and John," said Kanika, "They're a couple, you know that?"
Nish and Sona just nodded their heads lazily.
John was wearing a pyjama shirt and a knee-length shorts, while Rita was wearing a sleeveless top and short shorts which was tight around her pelvic area.
Nisha knew that the college was quite open-minded in its culture, rules, and guidelines. It was one of the top engineering colleges of the country, at the same time, the one with the best gender ratio. The number of male and female students were almost equal in the college, which was quite unheard of in the rest of the engineering colleges in the country.
Students wore whatever and however they wanted to wear even during the class lectures. None of the professors or college authority ever reprimanded the students for their choice of clothing. Some boys even wore tank tops instead of a proper shirt to the classes, and the girls wore the shortest of skirts or shorts possible. It looked crazy for Nisha initially when she first arrived at the campus. It took quite a long time for her to get used to the culture of the campus.
* * * * *
It was Saturday night and Nisha was sitting on her bed, looking at the notes she made for the Environment Studies exam. She had read the thick textbook of the course during the day. The exam was on Monday, but she wanted to read the whole notes that night itself, so she could revise them the next day and by Monday morning, she would be totally prepared. Her roommate Sona was lying on her bed watching some movie on her laptop with earphones on.
It was just around midnight when Kanika barged into the room. Kanika used to spend most of her time in Nisha and Sona's room. Nisha had just finished reading the entire notes once and even Sona was done watching the movie.
"You guys are ready for Monday?" she asked, in a slight panting voice, with nervous eyebrows.
"I haven't even started reading the first chapters of the textbook," said Sona, shutting her laptop.
"I've studied the textbook and the notes once, need to revise tomorrow," said Nisha.
"Girls, I'm not talking about that kind of preparation," said Kanika stepping inside the room and sitting in a chair, "I'm talking about your bodies. Are your bodies prepared for the show?"
"What show?" Nisha asked.
"Take out the Students Handbook of our college," said Kanika.
Nisha took out the handbook from her college backpack. She hadn't even touched it or read it after her first semester.
"Read out the last points in the Semester Exams Guidelines section," said Kanika.
Nisha turned the pages to the end of the handbook. The words 'Environmental Studies' caught her eye.
"Do you want me to read 'Special Instructions Regarding Environmental Studies Exam'?" asked Nisha to which Kanika nodded.
"These instructions are for the first year students who would be writing Environmental Studies exam in their second semester," Nisha read out loud, "It's written that:
There's a special provision/choice for students to gain extra ten marks in the Environmental Studies written exam. Students are supposed to remain unclothed while writing the exam to take advantage of this provision.
"
Nisha paused for a moment.
"What? What do they mean by 'remain unclothed'?" she exclaimed.
"Just read on," said Kanika.
Nisha continued reading:
"There should be no stitch of clothing on the body below the neck; not even undergarments. Socks, shoes, sandals, heels or any kind of footwear are disallowed. Students should remain barefoot. Students are expected to behave in a disciplined and formal manner while writing the exam.
Only if the above conditions are met, students are eligible to have extra ten marks added to whatever marks they get after normal evaluation of their answers."
Nisha kept staring at the instructions and read it twice and thrice silently.
"Yeah, I remember it," said Sona finally breaking the awkward silence in the room, "You basically have to be in your birthday suit while writing the exam."
"Birthday suit? I don't have any suit for my birthday!" said Kanika confused.
"It means stark naked silly, naked as the day you were born," said Sona, giving a gentle push to Kanika's head.
"What the fuck!" exclaimed Nisha, "How could they allow this?"
Kanika and Sona were startled by Nisha's sudden outburst.
"Nisha, I don't think it's mandatory. It's just a choice. I think there are few more points in the instructions, just turn the page," said Sona.
Nisha turned the page and read out:
"Students can choose to write the exam while staying clothed in a separate exam which will be conducted in the forenoon. The special provision of awarding extra ten marks wouldn't be applicable for the forenoon session. The question papers set for the forenoon and afternoon sessions would be totally different and there would be no common questions between the two sets."
Nisha calmed down a little after reading the last instruction, but she still couldn't believe what she had just read.
"Oh, then I would choose the forenoon exam," said Kanika, with a relaxed voice.
"No, why would you miss a chance like this. They are awarding ten marks for free," said Sona and then turned to Nisha, "You too would choose the afternoon exam right?"
Nisha was in a dilemma now. She wanted to maintain her top grades. A free ten marks award would be a huge guarantee for her. But she could never think of being naked in front of others.
"I don't know. I don't really need to do this for just ten marks," said Nisha in a low voice.
"It's better to take the forenoon timings, trust me," said Kanika, "Huh...I was so worried. Now I can sleep peacefully now."
"Nope," said Sona, "It's better to take the afternoon exam. There won't be any possibility of failing the exam if we're getting ten marks for free."
"I can't focus on my answer paper if my boobs are hanging out," said Kanika, "Hell, I can't focus even when I'm clothed. Imagine the distraction in a room full of naked college boys and girls. If I see a beautiful boy naked in front of me with his penis dangling, I would not think of writing the exam at all."
"Well, everyone would be seated while writing the exam, no one is gonna be standing with his dick against your face while you write," said Sona.
Nisha was still silent and confused while the other two girls kept talking about the exam and whether to choose the naked exam or not.
"Nisha...what have you decided?" asked Kanika, shaking her by her shoulders.
"Well ten marks for free is indeed beneficial. But I might think about it later," said Nisha who didn't wanna decide on anything yet.
"Nisha no, this bitch Sona wants appear in the exam naked. You need to make a choice too," said Kanika, somewhat indignant.
"Well, anyhow, ultimately it's your choice you know," said Sona seeing Kanika agitated, "I won't force you to do anything. You could go to the forenoon exam and fail it. I'm not missing this chance of getting ten marks for free."
"You two girls are the only ones who I feel comfortable with," said Kanika after some thought, "I think I'm gonna tank this exam. If I fail, I will take the supplementary exam again next semester to pass it. But wait, is the supplementary one also gonna have the naked provision?"
"Nothing is written about that here," said Nisha turning the pages of the handbook.