Chapter 3: The Friend

Angela shot Tammy a pleading look. Tammy looked her up and down, raised an eyebrow, and then looked at her mother. Then she seemed to realize something, and her mouth formed an O shape.

“Come along, Angela,” she said, “let’s get you into something ... else.”

Angela breathed a deep sigh of relief and followed Tammy up the staircase and into her room, whereupon Tammy shut the door and whirled around with a look of shock and concern on her face. “Angela, what happened to your clothes? Did that driver attack you?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Angela replied. “But, uh, this is why I wanted you to come to the mall with the outfit.”

Understanding dawned on Tammy. “Oh! You were naked at the mall! You should have said something!”

“I tried to, but—”

“Oh, if only I had known, I wouldn’t have called a driver for you! Or at least I would have made sure it was a woman. I’m so sorry, you must be so embarrassed!” Tammy looked into Angela’s eyes and laid a hand on her upper arm. “I would just die if I had to ride naked in a stranger man’s car! What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story,” Angela said. “What were you busy with that you couldn’t come to the mall yourself?”

“Oh, nothing important, really nothing as urgent as bringing clothes for my beautiful naked friend Angela should have been.” Tammy looked at her with sad, empathetic eyes, but made no move to do anything else.

Angela felt very conscious of the fact that she was standing naked in front of her clothed friend, and had not been offered so much as a blanket or a towel. “Well, I’m here now. Where’s the outfit you said you had for me?”

Tammy’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes!” She dove into her wardrobe and pulled out a yellow dress. “I’m sure this will look great on you!”

Angela accepted the dress with enormous gratitude, couldn’t stop saying thank you over and over again to Tammy, her dear friend, her knight in shining armor. She pulled the yellow dress over her head, and finally she was clothed. The nightmare was over.

Ordinarily, Angela would have felt almost naked wearing just a dress and running shoes, with no underwear on, but after her stint of public nudity, she now felt as though she was wrapped up in layers of sweaters and jackets.

“Thanks Tammy, you’re a lifesaver.”

Tammy said nothing, but cocked her head at Angela. “It doesn’t suit you. Hold on, I’ll pick out a different one.”

“It’s fine, Tammy, this is only temporary, until I can—”

“Try this one on instead!” Tammy thrust a blue dress in Angela’s face. “It’s more your color.”

“It’s okay, really, I don’t—”

“Arms up!” Tammy shouted, grabbing at the yellow dress.

Angela, stunned, did as she was commanded, and the yellow dress flew off her body, leaving her naked once more. She hadn’t been wearing it for even a full minute.

“This blue dress is much nicer,” said Tammy.

Angela took the blue dress and pulled it over her head. This one was a tighter fit than the yellow one, which, if she had to be honest, was a bit of tent. Angela savored the feeling of the fabric on her skin. She turned around and looked in Tammy’s mirror. Not bad.

But Tammy was more critical. “That’s not it either,” she said, frowning at Angela’s appearance in the mirror. “Try this one.”

Angela protested. She disagreed, this dress was perfect, sexy, brilliant.

“You and I both know that’s a lie, Angela,” said Tammy. “I cannot in good faith clothe you in something that’s just not your style.”

Reluctantly, Angela slid the blue dress over her head, and tried on the purple one Tammy had handed her. This one was looser, a fit somewhere between the two she’d tried on previously. It was quite tight around the waist, a good match for Angela’s bottom hourglass figure, which she mentioned to Tammy.

“Hmm, I guess,” said Tammy, taking a bit of the sleeve between two of her fingers. “But it’s too frilly. I’ve got a better one.”

Angela sighed and got naked once more. Tammy snatched the purple dress from her and returned to her wardrobe. “Don’t worry, Angela, we’ll find the right one. Isn’t this fun?!”

Angela smiled weakly at Tammy, who was beaming from ear to ear. She felt like an overgrown Barbie doll.

Over the course of half an hour, Tammy had Angela try on every single dress in her wardrobe. Eventually, she settled on a slinky black number, an evening dress that was far too formal for Angela to wear about town, and clashed horribly with her running shoes, but Tammy loved it. And if Tammy loved it, that meant she wouldn’t demand that Angela strip again, so Angela decided she loved it too.

The girls went down to Tammy’s kitchen to celebrate the successful outfit. Tammy opened her fridge and pulled out a big carton of pulpy fusion fruit juice and poured it into wine glasses for both of them, as she didn’t have any wine, champagne, or anything else other than water in the house.

“To fashion!” Tammy exclaimed, raising her glass exuberantly.

“To clothing!” Angela replied, raising hers more gently.