Chapter 3: Assembling the Audience

As she walked to St. Dunstan's Junior High the next bright, warm morning, Rebecca York reflected on the previous day's swim training. Despite being unanticipated (at least by her fellow students), it hadn't gone badly at all. Sure the first five minutes were awkward, and everyone was sort-of self-conscious for the next ten, by the time the two hours had flown by, everyone was much more relaxed about being nude around each other — even with their teachers present, and even their teachers seemed to loosen up. One of the girls had even reacted with surprise about how comfortable it was swimming without a swimsuit. Not having to go home and wash out a chlorine-perfumed swimsuit was a definite plus, as well.

The issue now was how to keep this a secret. And suddenly she realized the truly evil part of her mother's plan: they needed eight more girls to act as St. Dunstan's equivalent to the audience at Gymnos Middle School, which meant ... asking other girls. Add in the predictably huge number which would say, "No way!", and it was a slam-dunk guarantee that by the end of today, everyone in the school, of both genders, would know that the swim teams were a bunch of perverted little skinny-dippers. Her social life was officially over. "Thanks, Mom," she muttered bitterly.

The swim team met sans instructors at the door to the women's change room about a half-hour before the opening bell.

"Well, Becky, it wasn't too bad last night," Joanna assured her. "I'll forgive you for that."

"Thanks, Jo. Anybody found a partner to act as her audience yet?"

None of them had asked a soul.

"That means we have to go around today, and ask people. Can you imagine, asking someone out of the blue to sit naked at the side of a pool, watching other naked people? They're all going to think we're weird." Rebecca shuddered.

"Becky, can't you ask your mother to change that rule?" pleaded Debbie.

"It would take a fleet of tugboats to get her to agree to any changes right now. She can make mules look amenable when she wants to."

"Then how do we go about it?"

Natalie had an idea. "We start with the 8 girls who are pudgiest. They're probably all failing at gym, so they'll go along with the idea."

Debbie objected. "I don't want eight strangers in the room with me. I'm going to ask some friends first."

"Debbie, I am your best friend. You can ask, but because I'm already ON the swim team, that'll be kind of pointless."

"You WERE my best friend, Natalie, until you talked me into joining the swim club. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Spoilsport." Natalie stuck out her tongue and everyone laughed.

"We all have first lunch? Let's meet in the cafeteria and talk it over then. Maybe we can come up with an idea about how to convert eight girls to nudism overnight."

First class for Rebecca was Social Studies. She arrived just before homeroom started, and didn't have a chance to talk to Linda, her first target for "audience".

Their teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, gave them a curious assignment: "The handout being passed around the class is some documentation about the Naturist lifestyle. You are to write a one-page paper describing how a girl or boy's attitude toward their body would be different if they were raised in a nudist lifestyle. I expect the results back by the end of today's class. The computer lab is open, and the handout has a number of websites for reference; use them if you need to. You have one hour."

Rebecca's heart sank. Her mother was "helping" the swim team again.

At lunch, the cafeteria was filled with chatter about the strange writing assignment everyone had gotten: In both grades, the students who had Social Studies in the afternoon but English in the morning, were assigned a one-page paper describing "from your own imagination" how they would react to their first time at a naturist resort or nude swim. The handout was identical between both classes. Rebecca was not really looking forward to her English class that afternoon.

"Well, my lovely mother has lost whatever was left of her demented little mind," Rebecca muttered to her team mates as she bit into a sandwich. "I wonder if there are any openings on the International Space Station. I definitely want to be off-planet right now."

"Actually, it might make it easier," Marcia pointed out. "They will already be thinking of it, so the pump is primed."

"Great, as long as the groundwater isn't tainted." Rebecca took a sip of her milk. "Say, how did everyone get along last night with the second part of our 'training'?"

"Not bad for me," Marcia volunteered. "Because my maternal grandmother's a prude, we need to keep the family nudism secret from her, otherwise I'd be attending Gymnos right now." The others gaped in amazement.

"That's why you have a boyfriend there!" Samantha whispered. For obvious reasons, everyone was chatting in hushed tones.

"Yes, we met at this Naturist resort west of town. I wanted to go to Gymnos so badly after that."

"So were we all nude last night, from the time we got home?" Rebecca quizzed. Everyone nodded in the affirmative.

"And didn't get dressed until we got up for school this morning?" More nodding.

"How was it for you?"

"Great," Alexandria gushed. "At first, it was awkward, like at the swim, but then Mom and Dad stripped down and so did my little brother. That made me feel less 'different'. We had a nice dinner, watched an old movie, I did my homework, and then I went to bed. Other than being nude, it was, well, normal."

The other girls reported a similar experience, with some more distressed by their parents' nudity than others, but all reported that within an hour, they'd accepted the situation.

"Pardon me for a second, I sense a target of opportunity," advised Rebecca as she spied her friend Linda across the cafeteria, finished with her lunchtime library duty. "You'd better start asking friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers too."