She slid slowly out of her bed, still adjusting to the leap back in time. Even after three loops, it still took a bit of getting used to.
She was, once more, waking up in her room - the sight of sunlight glittering through her window a beautiful yet common one. It still didn't feel right, for so much to happen and then for so little of it to matter. She wondered how to motivate herself to make this day any different.
There was a loud shrieking noise, one familiar and yet not so - Sylvia's attention was ripped from the view out her window and to her alarm clock. She'd silenced it before its time on the last three days but today, she was too lost in thoughts to remember. It chirped one last time before being quieted as though the alarm was being choked when she struck the button atop the device.
Her gaze went back to the window as she thought about the previous events - future events? - present events? - when the next moment happened to her.
A splatter against her collarbone, drizzling down to her chest as the bird she'd remembered but not expected greeted the morning.
She remembered it now.
Sylvia stripped down as she walked out of her room, rounding the corner to the shower. It would just be her and her mother at home right now, and since her mother was on a call with her coworkers, the coast was clear. It wasn't as though Sylvia usually had a problem being naked in her own house, but it wasn't as though she went out of her way to take chances, either.
She brushed a bit off the bird's leavings off her chest with a bare hand, washing off in the sink as she waited for the shower to warm up. The events of the last few loops went through her head and she suddenly felt like she wanted the embrace of the water once more.
It felt like she was back under her blankets, the warm water rushing over her bare skin as she got clean again. Once she'd been drenched, the next part of her day came back to memory; She would walk naked past her mother and be caught on the webcam. It almost seemed so trivial now, after so much of her had been seen by so many, a few old men seeing a pixelated version of her nudity in a corner felt so insignificant.
After that, a few more thoughts entered her mind.
She had lost her skirt to the bus door on the first day but was more careful afterwards. In fact, she had managed to prevent being seen undressed at all on most days until after gym, when...
Something clicked in her mind as she stood there under the jets of warm water. She'd had her clothes stolen in the locker room twice; Then, after sitting out to keep a better eye on them, it was Elizabeth who had streaked through the school instead of her.
Afterwards, both Ivy and Monica were the ones who had to stay naked for a while - the only time they really had cover was when she'd flashed the entire courtyard to distract from their nudity.
And then Elizabeth was naked... and then...
The universe seemed to be conspiring against Sylvia. It wanted her to undress. And when she'd outsmarted fate, fate would punish her friends, instead.
It seemed absurd to think about, but so far it seemed as plausible as the universe resetting at Midnight every day. Sylvia wondered if there was some way to avoid all the nudity that had plagued her up to that point, and what kind of humiliation might occur to her friends if she'd gotten away with it somehow.
An idea popped into her head, or rather, the idea had been in her head for some time and was finally manifesting into action. It seemed crazy, but she'd already done a few crazy things already...
...and it's not like it mattered anyway. If the worst came to be, the day would reset at midnight anyway. She hadn't figured out how to escape this timeloop, so why bother to fight it?
Sylvia shut off the water and wiped her hair out of her face, feeling around for the curtain as she pushed it aside and made her way dripping into the bathroom. The only towels available were small hand towels that she used to get some of the excess water off her skin, though she was still damp all over.
Today was still laundry day. Maybe she had known that when she woke up.
Her bare feet padded along the floor leaving slight impressions of liquid beneath her wherever she went. Normally she would be yelled at for leaving a trail of water on the floor like this, but she also knew that she wouldn't be home at the same time as her mother today, and tomorrow doesn't matter.
Her mother was busy with her computer, her back to the rest of the house as she was clicking around, her earbuds blocking out any noise surrounding her that was less urgent than whatever business meeting she was a part of.
Sylvia didn't bother her mother and simply walked to the laundry room where a fresh, warm set of towels had just emerged from the dryer. The first time around, she'd accidentally flashed her mother's co-workers. She was going to make sure that didn't happen again...
Because this time, she'd flash them on purpose.
It took some time before the people on her mother's work call began to notice, and the first few to see the naked girl in the background of a shot patting her body dry with a towel were too embarrassed to say anything about the deed. But soon, as the number of flushed faces outweighed those who didn't notice, the silence was broken.
"Er... Mrs. Allen. Your daughter is on camera and uh..."
Sylvia could hear the conversation shift from where she was standing. Her mom turned around and shouted something unintelligible as she shifted from work-mode to panic-mode internally.
"Sylvia! What are you doing?" She shouted as her hands failed to cover up the webcam built into the laptop.
"Drying off." Sylvia replied, folding a towel over her shoulders to ensure no part of her nudity was properly covered. "The towels are warmer when they're fresh from the dryer."
"I - you - " Her mother stammered for a bit before turning back around to apologize quickly to her coworkers before shutting off the camera.
"You need to be more careful walking around like that. My coworkers saw everything!"
"It's where I live, Mom." Sylvia replied "I should be able to expect some privacy in my own home."
"Yes, I suppose so." Her mother strained to get her 'work voice' back. "I should be returning to this meeting. I must apologize to them for the interruption."
"Oh, I'm sure they didn't mind the view." Sylvia teased as she walked back upstairs to her bedroom.
Usually, at this time of day, she would be picking out an outfit for school, dressing, and making sure the last few things she needed were all in order. But as Sylvia was already slightly behind schedule, she was able to come up with a way of speeding up the entire process. All it took was a minimal amount of make-up, a bit more drying off, and then to select her shoes for the morning as she double-checked that she had everything she needed for school safely tucked into her bag.
She thought about the timeloop, how every embarrassment she avoided caused a person close to her to be embarrassed instead. On the first day, she was forced to come to school in a pair of her mother's workout tights that quickly tore open when she bent down to fix a broken shoe.
It occurred to her that, because people saw the rip in the back of her pants, her mother was spared the potential embarrassment that day of having the yoga pants rip open on her, instead.
In a small way, she was responsible for her mother being exposed during her lunch-break exercise the last two loops - something she'd never thought about but that had certainly had to happen. Today, she would ensure that such an embarrassment wouldn't happen to anybody else.
Glancing at her phone as she walked downstairs to the front door, she realized she'd actually managed to be slightly ahead of schedule. This was working out remarkably well; But so far, Sylvia had only managed the easy part.
She let out a sigh. It was going to be a long day. A VERY long day. But so far, it seemed as though that was the result no matter what she tried.
"Goodbye, Mom!" She shouted, ensuring there was no hesitation in her voice as she opened the door and walked through.
She could hear her mother shouting a farewell in return as she shut the door behind her and felt the cool morning breeze against her skin.
Sylvia had left the house with her bag slung over one shoulder, the strap hugging her breasts as they were separated by the fabric. She had a comfortable though not very fashionable pair of shoes on her feet - though she was confident that nobody would be paying too much attention to them. Because she wasn't wearing anything else.
She walked down the driveway with a sense of trepidation, each step taking her further away from the cover and safety of those walls in which she lived. So far, nobody had seen her like this outside - it wasn't too late to turn around and change her mind, to get dressed again and pretend like this never happened.
But then again, there was a nagging feeling like that would only delay the inevitable.
By the time she had reached the sidewalk, she began to walk a bit more confidently. That sense of confidence stumbled as a car slowed its roll when driving by, she could hear its slow treads driving into the distance as the driver was certainly looking more intently at his mirror than the road.
Despite involuntarily clenching her buttcheeks together, she didn't turn her head or acknowledge the look. There would be many more. As far as she was concerned, Sylvia simply had to pretend that everything was normal, otherwise she might lose her nerve.
Due to the nice weather, there were plenty of people outdoors - walking dogs and enjoying the coolness of the early morning. When she came into view, though, gazes were shifted.
