Chapter 1: Rachel - A stripped student, Rachel is prohibited from ever wearing any clothes other than shoes.

How Rachel Met Jayden

It was an unusually warm day for having just had such a sudden cold snap. Sunny, 66º, light breeze — a far cry from the frigid temperatures just three weeks ago. The black surface of the Target parking lot actually felt warm on Rachel’s bare feet as she stepped out of the blue Honda SUV.

“You’re not going to wear your Uggs?” asked her mom as she walked around to the passenger side and saw Rachel standing there barefooted.

“Actually, no, Mom, this feels good. It’s like walking on warm toast!” Rachel had removed her shoes, but she left everything else on: an anklet, two new bracelets she got for Christmas, a thin chain necklace and a floppy sunhat, which she always wore on sunny days.

Target’s policy that shoes must be worn at all times was superseded by Florida’s rules for anyone who had been “Quick Stripped,” that is, whose clothing had been taken away under the state’s Stripped for Florida program. Although they were allowed to wear sandals or shoes, even short boots, they were free to go anywhere in Florida without shoes, so long as there were no health or safety hazards in doing so. The only restriction on footwear was that it was not recommended to wear tall boots or knee socks, which could sometimes trigger the clothing sensors installed throughout the state. These sensors would set off alarms that alerted local law enforcement, ensuring that they complied with the law and remained completely naked — at least from the neckline to the ankles — at all times.

“Ahhh ... this is more like it!” Rachel said to her mom as she stepped across the sun-warmed parking lot.

A family getting out of a green Mazda was taken aback. They knew there were stripped kids in Madison County, and they tried not to be too obvious with their stares, but the sudden sighting of a high school girl walking across a public parking lot without any clothes on was still a bit of a shocker.

The automatic doors glided open as the clothed-and-unclothed mother and daughter strode past the in-store Starbucks. Unlike in south Florida, where the sight of nudity was becoming commonplace, the northern rural counties had not yet seen the proliferation of nudity in public, and heads were turning. Most shoppers had only heard about the county’s few stripped students. Some cast delighted glances, others disapproving scowls (although in many cases, those scowls concealed a clandestine inner delight).

Rachel’s mom grabbed a cart and the pair started shopping as if it were perfectly normal for a girl to be strolling through Target wearing nothing but a sunhat and jewelry. Rachel had been the first stripped student in Madison County, and after living naked 24/7 for the better part of a year, she had finally acclimated to it. She did everything that way. Nude was the only “normal” she knew anymore. And it would be until she was 21.

The floor of Target felt cool on Rachel’s feet as they strolled through the store. They walked past kitchenware, home decor and girls’ underwear (one department that was no longer relevant to Rachel). Then they came to jewelry.

“Oh mom, look,” she said, picking up a jangly bracelet. “I love these. Look how cute!”

“Oh my God, it is,” her mom replied, taking it from Rachel’s hand and looking it over.

“I think Clair has one just like it.”

Rachel had become somewhat of a connoisseur of bracelets. She had quite a collection. She’d been a fashion aficionado before her parents Quick-Stripped her last May, bringing her clothes-wearing days to an abrupt halt. Now she collected necklaces, anklets and shoes. And along with her best friend Clair—both aspirant fashion designers--still indulged in her hobby of drawing outfits in a sketchbook. As Clair says about the outfits Rachel sketches, “You can draw ‘em ... you just can’t wear ‘em!”

Rachel’s mom examined the bracelet, which was of very high quality. “Impressive.”