It was just sitting there, a plain white cotton blouse on the top of a pile of similar looking shirts. It had a small collar and tiny white buttons that ran down the entire front. It wasn't really a short-sleeve or sleeveless, but had just a ruffle of material that extended over the top of the shoulder. Although it was just a blouse, it was really a Blouse, with a capital "B." It was different, even if it didn't look or feel any different than any other blouse.

"How about that one?" Tracy asked, pointing to the Blouse.

"It's plain," Judy answered, frowning. "You could at least get it in yellow. That would match your brown shorts better."

"I could get, maybe, a black mini-skirt to go with this one. You know... black and white."

"That's a bit old fashioned," Judy shrugged. "That blouse would probably go better with a plaid skirt. You know... the Catholic school girl look!"

Tracy stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"At least let me try it on. Look... the top one is my size!"

Judy smiled and said "What ever!" in the way that only teenage girls can seem to enunciate. There was that dramatic pause between the two words, and a heavy emphasis on the first syllable of the second word. It combined the emotions of boredom, restlessness, fatigue, a non-desire to argue, and even humor into two highly charged words.

Tracy giggled at her friend, took the Blouse, and headed for the fitting room.

It was Saturday, or "Shopping Day." At least, that's what Tracy and Judy called it, but they rarely ever bought anything. It was just a day to go to the mall and try on new outfits. If something special was found, they'd come home and pester their mothers or fathers until the item was purchased.

It was a familiar routine-a dance, if you will-that all players knew the steps to instinctively. It allowed the two girls' parents a few hours of relative silence as the girls made their weekly journey to the mall and back. It allowed the two girls the opportunity to catch up on all the latest gossip, to talk about boys, and-best of all-try on new clothes!

Both girls were sixteen; Tracy was younger by about two months. They had been best friends in elementary school through junior high, but this year in high school their schedules diverged. They had no classes together this year, the first time this happened in memory. This, of course, made their weekly trips to the mall much more important as a way of catching up with each others' lives.

Tracy, the younger one, had long, straight, brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. She spent close to an hour each morning simply brushing it over and over, teasing it with her bristle brush in order to bring out the oils that made her hair shine. Tracy's hair was, to Tracy's mind, her greatest asset. Her face was cute, but not glamorous. Her breasts were only now starting to develop, which was a major cause of embarrassment to Tracy. She had a thin waist with only the barest widening at the hips.

In elementary school, Tracy's skinny build earned her the name "Zipper" (as in, "if you stuck your tongue out, you'd look like a zipper") which had caused her long nights crying in anguish. Only Judy befriended her, and through the years, Tracy came to rely on her friend for advice and told her things she couldn't even discuss with a priest. Judy did the same, and the two girls were so often seen together that most people, including their families, just considered them an inseparable pair.

Judy was the more outgoing of the two. Early in elementary school, Judy was the girl that would give peep shows to the little boys, daring them to play doctor with her. She had wavy blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, which was getting darker each year. Now, in her sixteenth year, it was still mostly blonde, but Judy knew how nature worked. She was considering maybe bleaching her hair, but so far had not even broached the subject with Tracy, who probably would have been scandalized. Along with her wavy blonde hair, Judy had blue eyes (her favorite song was "Judy Blue Eyes," which her father used to sing to her at night when she was little) and a face that still seemed to retain some of her baby fat in a cute and pudgy way.

Judy envied Tracy's slight build, and was amazed that Tracy could eat two deluxe hamburgers at the fast food place in the food court along with a super-sized order of French Fries and an extra-large Coke without gaining an ounce. For her part, Judy forced herself to eat salads and diet soda in a hopeless attempt to lose weight. Judy always considered herself to be at least five to ten pounds overweight, and nothing Judy seemed to do was ever able to change that.

Judy's body was more developed in puberty, and as much as Tracy was an introvert, Judy was an extrovert. Judy had always had a touch of exhibitionism in her, and recently she had started to allow boy friends to touch her breasts, both covered and uncovered, so long as Judy was able to reciprocate by touching the boy's dick in a similar fashion, a bargain that both Judy and her boyfriend du jour found irresistible.

With the major exception of Judy's flirting with the idea of bleaching her hair, the two girls kept few secrets from the other. Tracy listened in awe when Judy would relate to her a tale of groping in the school library, pretending to be shocked instead of envious. Tracy told Judy about her dreams that some day a boy would look at her and see her as more than a human swizzle stick.

In the fitting room, Tracy took a closer look at the Blouse. It wasn't as sheer as she had originally thought, especially in the chest area. That would be a relief. She frowned as she pulled off her tank top and caught her reflection in the mirror. Her bra hung loosely on her chest. It was a "B" cup, although Tracy was still technically an "A" cup. The stigma of actually purchasing what amounted to a training bra when she was sixteen years old forced Tracy to wear one that was uncomfortable and loose. A lot of the time, Tracy simply decided to forgo the bra completely, taking it off between home and the bus stop so her mother wouldn't know. However, going braless meant having to wear darker clothes, since her nipples were quite dark and stood out in stark contrast to the milky whiteness of the rest of her breasts. That wasn't something that Tracy wanted to do now that Spring was here. Stuffing her "B" cup was simply out of the question. A girl had done it in junior high school a few years back-she had been caught with tissues in the locker room and afterward she found herself a laughingstock by the entire school.

Since the Blouse was thicker than most white shirts, Tracy decided to go a little risqué and took off her bra before putting on the Blouse. The tiny buttons were a bit difficult for Tracy to undo, so she just undid the top five buttons and pulled the shirt onto her head as if it were a tank top.

Buttoning the tiny buttons was even more difficult with the shirt on than unbuttoning them had been. Tracy frowned with the effort and managed to get the first one fastened before discovering the right combination of twisting and pulling that made the process actually quite easy.

Tracy looked at her reflection in the mirror. It was not apparent that she wasn't wearing a bra, a fact that made her let out the breath that she hadn't been aware she was holding. The Blouse hung nicely on her frame, even flaring out at the bottom, making people think that she might actually have hips.

"This Blouse looks good," Tracy said aloud. "It's... I don't know... but it's me!"

Tracy exited the fitting cubicle to where she knew Judy was waiting.

"Damn, girl!" Judy exclaimed. "That looks great on you!"

Tracy beamed at her best friend's praise.

"I wish I could fit in your size," Judy continued. "That looks hot!"

Tracy frowned a bit. The last thing she needed to look was "hot." Tracy preferred to blend into a crowd, and not stand out the way Judy seemed to prefer. There was something in Judy's words, though... Tracy turned to find another mirror at the end of the hallway where the two girls were standing.

"It does look hot, doesn't it?" Tracy asked, amazed that she agreed with Judy's assessment, and even liked it.

"We should get your mom to get this one for you."

Tracy hesitated. She had no doubt that her mom would purchase a blouse like this. After all, it was on sale and the price was almost a steal. The problem was that Tracy didn't want just any blouse from that table. She wanted this one... this Blouse. This was the very one she had to have.

"Give me a sec," Tracy said, moving back to the cubicle.

Inside the cubicle, Tracy was at a quandary. She wanted this Blouse. Unfortunately, she had no money. What could she do?

Looking around the cubicle, Tracy saw the tank top and bra that she had recently taken off. "I came in here with a blouse," Tracy thought to herself. "So I'm leaving here with a Blouse. Seems like a fair trade... the store even gets that shitty bra as well."

There was a tag on the Blouse, but that was quickly and efficiently removed. She looked at her brown shorts and realized that the Blouse matched it pretty nicely.

Tracy took a few deep breaths and found her normally jittery nerves start to calm. She realized that she just might be able to pull this caper off.

A knock on the cubicle door from an impatient Judy brought Tracy out of her reverie. Tracy took a deep breath and opened the door. "I'm ready. Let's go."

Judy looked at her friend as if she had two heads. "Are you fuckin' nuts?" she whispered loudly, not wanting to attract attention. "You're going to steal the shirt?"

Without moving her lips, Tracy answered, "I left the old one. Fair trade. Come on, let's get moving."

Judy was speechless. Tracy was never one to do stupid things like this. This was totally out of character for her. Judy, on the other hand, might have gotten away with it, but Judy was certain that Tracy's nervous nature was bound to give her away. Judy didn't want anything to happen to her best friend. With doubts in her mind, Judy followed Tracy.

It was a nervously confidant Tracy that left the changing room and made a bee-line toward the escalator, with Judy following close behind her.

Neither girl ever looked up. There was a black globe that hid the security camera that was actively being monitored by two people in the security department.

"Shit, Jake!" Harry told his co-worker. "That's another five bucks. How do you do it?"

Jake smiled. "You can tell the ones that have the itchy fingers," he answered, pocketing the five dollar bill his friend gave him. "Besides, I've seen a lot of those white shirts being swiped. It's as if the sale sign has the words, 'Shoplift me!' written on it."

"Which exit do you think they'll take?" Harry asked.

Jake thought a moment and said, "Mall entrance, main floor."

Harry and Jake left the monitoring room. Harry asked, "Which one do you want? The blonde?"

"Nah," Jake answered. "With those shirts, I prefer taking the one that actually stole the shirt."

"Are you shitting me? The blonde is hot! That other girl looks like a pencil."

"So," Jake grinned. "I get to sharpen my pencil today."

Tracy was confidant that they had gotten away with the theft.

Judy, on the other hand, thought that Tracy had gone off her gourd. Judy said nothing, though, afraid that her voice would betray her nervousness.

Judy could see the mall entrance. Just twenty more feet and they would be free...

"Excuse me, ladies."

The two girls froze, knowing that voice was talking to them. It had the unmistakable voice of authority.

Slowly, both Tracy and Judy turned around to see two men in their twenties behind them.

"Y... yes?" Judy stammered. "Do you mean us?"

"There seems to be a slight problem," Harry said, having gone through this scenario far too many times before.

"And what would that be?" Tracy asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

Judy turned in surprise to look at her friend. She had half-expected the brunette's response would be to break out in tears, but her voice was quite steady. In fact, Tracy seemed to ooze confidence.

The two security guards had seen all kinds, though. "The shirt you are wearing hasn't been paid for, Miss," Jake said.

"You must be mistaken," Tracy answered with a defiant look in her eyes.

Jake pulled out a wand, causing Judy to flinch, thinking it was a cop's baton, much like she saw on that video of Rodney King many years ago. He directed it toward Tracy at the bottom of the Blouse underneath the line of tiny buttons. As it approached the Blouse, a red LED lit up at the end. "Anti-theft device," Jake mentioned, matter of factly.

In fact, the device was no such thing. It was just a simple wand with a AAA battery, some wires, a red LED, and a hidden contact that completed the circuit. However, most would-be thieves, especially underage ones, didn't know this.

"Could you please come to my office?" Jake asked. He did not wait for an answer. Both security guards had the girls' arms and were starting to walk them toward one of the interrogation rooms.

The two security guards already knew their agenda. This wasn't going to be an actual arrest; just a "warning" to scare the bejesus out of the girls. They looked like good kids, and just needed to be taught the error of their ways. Give them a good scare and they'd learn their lesson.

Of course, some lessons were fun to teach.

They were on the main floor I-room. As soon as the lights were switched on, a system of video cameras started recording.

Due to his seniority, Jake was in charge, and sat down at the desk and pulled out some papers. The title on the papers was large enough for the girls to read: "ARREST REPORT"

"Names?" Jake asked.

Both girls looked at each other, and neither one answered. Judy looked panic stricken, but Tracy still had that defiant look in her eyes.

Jake sighed. "Look, girls. You can make it easy, or I can make it difficult. Your names and addresses will be taken, your pictures will be taken, you will be handed over to the police where you will be put on a $250 bond. Your parents will be called, and they will have to dole out five hundred to get their precious daughters who fucked up and stole a $6.99 shirt. In addition, your pictures will be distributed throughout every one of the department stores in this chain, which numbers close to a thousand in this country alone. You will no longer be allowed to enter our stores, even to pass through them to get to the mall. Do you understand the seriousness of your situation?"

Judy looked ashen. Being banned from the department store chain was almost worse than having to face her parents about the shoplifting charge. "But... but I didn't steal anything!"

Jake shrugged. "You were with her, which makes you an accessory. We have the entire event on video tape, and we'll give it to the police as evidence if you wish to dispute the facts."

Judy glared at her friend, who still had a defiant look in her eye. How could Tracy have done this to her? Poor little mousy Tracy... now she was a shoplifter! Why wasn't Tracy frantic?

"You will not make that report," Tracy said, shrugging.

"I won't?" Jake asked.

"No," Tracy said. "You won't."

"Why not?"

"Because that's not why you brought us here."

Jake looked at the thin girl. She was correct, of course, but there was no way she could possibly know. There was a slight chance that she a plant from headquarters, but it was doubtful. The blonde looked positively petrified, and she seemed to be wondering why her friend was acting so strange. Jake smiled and decided to play along. "Why do you think we brought you here?"

"Your friend here," Tracy said, indicating Harry, "wants to get into Judy's pants. You would like to do the same with me."

Judy couldn't believe her ears. Even if these men-adult men!-hadn't had any such designs on them, Tracy just put the idea into their fucking heads. What was she thinking?

Harry shrugged at Jake. This was getting interesting!

Jake turned his attention to the defiant teenager. Jake and Tracy stared at one another for a few minutes. Finally, Jake found that he just had to blink. How did those girls manage to do that?

Tracy smirked at the security man, confidant that she had just won some silly game of cat and mouse.

"And what makes you think that we want to get into your pants?" Jake asked, finding his mouth getting dry.

Tracy shrugged. "Isn't that what you want to do?"

Another long pause. "What if it is?"

"Then here is how it will be," Tracy said, her eyes flashing. "We'll strip for you. Judy will give your friend a hand job. After all, she didn't steal anything and she's given hand jobs before, so it's not like she doesn't like it."

Judy looked at Tracy as if she had two heads. How could Tracy talk so callously about Judy's sex life to these strangers? Tracy had actually stated it as a fact that she would give that creep a hand job! She wasn't some kind of cheap whore! The nerve of Tracy! Judy found herself too angry to speak.

"And you?" Jake asked, hearing his voice crack just a bit.

"Oh, I guess my punishment should be a little more severe. How about a blow job?"

The fact that the girl made the offer made it clear to Jake that this wasn't a plant. If it were, the video tapes would show it was a clear case of entrapment. However, the offer of only a blow job was less than Jake had wanted. He had been expecting to get at least a thank-you fuck out of this. He was just a bit disappointed. "I'm not sure..."

"And you will have to hit whatever switch you need to in order to turn off those video cameras," Tracy said, pointing upward. "We have no intentions of having pictures of us going around on the Internet. Do you understand?"

Somehow, Jake wasn't exactly sure how, this girl had taken control of the situation. He had seen it before. It was always the girl that was wearing the white Blouse.

After the first time it had happened, Jake replayed the scene over and over in his mind, wondering how he allowed a customer to gain any leverage over him. The second time, he felt the deja-vu, and found that it excited him in anticipation of what would hopefully happen. It's been a half dozen times, now. Jake wouldn't have it any other way, now.

Harry was amazed at what was transpiring. He had never before seen this happen. Sure, female shoplifters would sometimes offer sexual favors, and he didn't mind giving in occasionally, especially if the girl was good looking like the blonde here. However, he never before saw a customer like this skinny brunette kid take over a situation so completely, especially from somebody as seasoned as Jake.

Jake's eyes were positively sparkling!

Judy was looking at her friend, who had suddenly changed from a little mouse to a tiger on the prowl. Gone was the perpetual look of fear that somebody might raise their voice at her. There was something different in her eyes now. Tracy's eyes emitted pure, unadulterated confidence!

Judy understood that they were in dire straits, and had hoped that the whole thing might be worked out with some sweet talking, perhaps a little cuddling or, at worst, some fondling. If all else failed, crying might even help. However, she had not expected Tracy to simply state as a matter of fact that Judy would give some guy she didn't even know a hand job!

That guy that hadn't spoken was staring at Judy. The bastard was even licking his lips. Judy turned her attention to what used to be her best friend. What would Tracy do next?

It was Jake's turn to speak. "You said that the two of you will strip. Let's see if you are as good as your word."

Judy froze. It wasn't as if she didn't mind people looking at her naked body, but she preferred to be the one in charge when it happened. It had to be on her terms, and it was always tit for tat, so to speak... a naked breast required a naked cock in return. And it was always with boys her own age, not adult men who were leering at her. She also knew for a fact that no male, adult or teen, had seen Tracy's birthday suit since she was a toddler.

Tracy simply shrugged, and as if by magic, all the tiny buttons on the Blouse seemed to disappear as they simultaneously exited their buttonholes. The two halves of the Blouse parted, revealing most of Tracy's tiny breasts and her belly button.

Jake had never tired of seeing this, the way the Blouse seemed to open on its own. He never figured out how the girls did it, but he really enjoyed that display. He tried examining one of the samples from the sale table, but couldn't see any catch or device that would possibly do this. The whole concept of the Blouse was unbelievable, anyway.