It is hard not to notice me when looking at the facility photo at the beginning of the school year. Out of all of the teachers at Willowbrook Regional High School, I am the one in the first row to the left that is all naked. I am always naked since losing a friendly bet with a roommate while a student at the university I graduated from earlier this year.

It’s great to be back at the same regional high school I graduated from several years ago as the new History teacher. I promised my mentor through high school, Janet Simpson, that I would return as one of the school’s new teachers. When I made that promise, there was no mention of returning to the campus in the nude.

My name is Emily Thompson. I graduated from Oakwood University in educational history. In conversation with my old mentor, Janet talked me into continuing my education and becoming a high school History teacher. However, in a bet with my college roommate, Harper, I wagered the right to wear clothing and lost. Harper begged me to forget about betting away my rights to wear clothes, but I felt obligated to follow through with it.

I considered my decision to follow through with the wager: I could change my degree to something outside of the classroom, continue to become a high school history teacher while disregarding the bet and keep my clothes, or after talking with Janet about how stupid I was for making the bet that cost me the right to wear clothing.

Harper and I bet on the Women’s National Championship game. I was overly confident that Warner would win the championship that year. While making the wager on what I was willing to risk if I was to lose the bet. I secretly wanted to be naked all the time but was too scared to follow through with it. I told her if her team Morrison beats my team. I would not only lose my right to wear clothes in the dorm but...

I would not only lose my right to wear clothes in the dorm room but I would lose my right to wear clothes anywhere and agree to register for a lifetime term. It took us a long time to agree to those terms of the bet. Harper couldn’t understand why I would want to risk being naked everywhere. I should change to be like her and be naked in our room. She finally agreed to the terms of the bet when her team made the first goal point. Following the game’s outcome, Harper begged me to forget the silly wager. I stood up, pulled everything off, and walked out of the room naked.

She tried her best to talk me into wearing clothes like most of the campus for the rest of that Friday evening and into the weekend. Sometime on Sunday, I called Janet and told her about that silly wager and the game’s outcome. Janet began to ask me questions and rate my answers from one to ten. “Question one, how important is it to you to keep your promises?”

My response was ten, a matter of pride and honor to keep my promises. I have never made a promise I wasn’t sure I could follow through with. Janet asked me close to thirty questions in total. The results of that verbal test concluded deep down I wanted to be part of that fringe lifestyle of being free of clothes. The thought of standing before a classroom full of raging teenagers was terrifying. I couldn’t see any other profession outside of teaching in my future. I was at a crossroads of two conflicting decisions: should I register with the state to be legally required to be naked or continue wearing clothes?

It was Thursday, and I didn’t want to discuss this over the phone with my mother. During that semester, my class ended at eleven on Friday, which allowed me to drive home for five hours to talk to Mom in person. I didn’t want to discuss my considerations by ditching my clothes over the phone. That test my old mentor had me do pushed me to confront my Mom about following through on that bet. The talk with Mom didn’t go the way I thought it would. To my shock, she agreed with Janet that I should follow through on my bet.

Since I still wanted to study to become a teacher, I should get the clothes off and get used to being naked around others like family. To sum it up, that weekend was the last time I wore clothes. The only one of my siblings that still lived with my parents was my younger sister, who just graduated from high school. I removed my clothes in the living room while my mom watched as my witness. Due to the long drive, it was a short weekend.

I needed to leave early Sunday and be ready for my early morning class on Monday. Saturday was my first full day unclothed – unofficially permanude. Getting used to being nude, not automatically covering my breasts or pubic area, was more difficult than I had imagined. Being in public gave me a heightened awareness of my nudity. Looking back, I am grateful my mom was understanding, supportive, and encouraging throughout that day.

I couldn’t imagine my first day back on campus living nude. That experience was overwhelming and stimulating when around others. Before leaving, Janet and Mom had breakfast at one of those dinners Sunday morning. During that visit with my old mentor, she informed me the school district superintendent saw no issues with my nudity.

On the way back, I texted Harper and arranged to meet her outside our residence hall. The first thing she asked me once she got in was, “Not going to ask if your bag contains clothes.” Harper was in a flowery dress for our short trip to a fast-food drive-thru. In the room, Harper got a laugh at the way I tossed the clothes on my bed.

As for others seeing me in my body and free of hair, I have mostly pretended not to notice their glance and act as if dressed. Over the weekend. Looking at my clothes, I reconsidered getting dressed. Harper placed her arms over my bare shoulders and asked if I wanted to donate or toss them. I thought about Harper’s question. Later that day, Harper helped me get rid of my unneeded clothes. I had folded and boxed the clothes for donation and tossed the underwear in the trash. It was gross to donate used underwear.

I should clarify that the crazy idea of adopting the nude lifestyle didn’t just pop into my head before that championship game. Those thoughts existed most of my time in high school when I saw someone in public in nothing but the skin they were born in. After this weekend with my mother, I am sure she knew about the state’s lifestyle pages I visited. I have been interested in registering nude for more than ten or more years and was piqued by educational grants and other benefits. I learned that benefits were still available earlier in the previous week. Right or wrong, I chose that bet to force me into this lifestyle of never wearing clothing again.

I knew from the days before the fall semester began there was a handful roaming the campus with just a smile. Public nudity has become the norm that is accepted or tolerated by others. The issue is not on the college campus but on the programs. Throughout the first day, nearly every guy didn’t even look up past my breasts. While talking to a few guys, I noticed they were talking to my pubes or breasts. I wonder how he would react if my breasts answered instead of me.

That evening after clearing out my clothes and having a long talk with Mom. I pulled up the state lifestyle page and began filling out the application to be registered nude for life. Requiring me by law to remain free of anything concealing my body for over one hundred years. I am guessing that Harper figured she lost that battle to get me to wear anything for some time.

She did fight me on selecting the ‘lifetime term,’ though, instead of the minimum ‘no-cost’ term of ten years. My argument against a lesser term would be worse. Ten or more years of being without those fabric threads covering me up would be foreign.

One or two days later, I got a notice in the email notifying me of my court day two weeks later on Wednesday morning. As the week passed, the same guys began looking at my face more and more. Several guys could never seem to look past my breasts. I should mention that, at least, during the first few weeks of uninterrupted nudity, many of the guys on campus couldn’t even look at me as they passed.

In the first few classes of the first week, I noticed one guy that had trouble looking at me when I walked into the classroom naked. Just a few days before my court date, as I was walking to the cafeteria, I was shocked to see that guy approach me in the middle of the main quad and get to know me.

I learned his name is Zanier Chilling, and his family lives not that far from where I grew up. That evening he took me to a fancy restaurant near downtown. The date went so well that he asked me if I would be willing to be his naked bride after we graduated. I said, “Yes!” We had only been dating for a few days before I had to appear before the judge with him at my side for support.

For the remainder of the spring semester, I spent more time not in the room with Harper than in it. From that year to this day, we have maintained our friendship. She now lives in the next town over from mine. As for Zanier, I did end up being his nude bride after we both got our degrees. He has an engineering degree, and mine is in secondary education.

I have been living a nude lifestyle for a few years and no longer felt weird after such a long time. I admit that stepping on my old high school campus did feel strange, even if none of those students knew me. I was more aware of my nudity during the interview. It didn’t help that I recognized the Superintendent and the Principal, which was nerve-wracking.