Chapter Text
After class, the three of us walked out of the room and into the hallway, with Jesse and Madison glaring at me.
“Well, I think after discussing it with the rest of the class, I feel we have a better idea on how we’re going to handle our report from here on out,” I said optimistically, hopefully I can weasel my way out of this. My group partners were not having it.
“You know, being naked doesn’t let you off the hook for the work,” Jesse grumbled, “I know I didn’t do that much but at least I tried. You did jack.”
“I know you were busy Inez but way to drop the freaking ball,” Madison sighed. Now that stung.
“Yeah, you two are absolutely right; I should have kept better track of our assignment. Totally my bad,” I admitted as we exited the liberal arts building. “We have until Thursday to submit the physical outline and it’s only a couple more pages, so I can handle the thesis body and the central points of our argument.”
“That’s a start,” Madison said as we traveled towards the library. “You would probably get more done if you and Jesse split the work. We can’t afford to miss any deadlines.”
“Does this mean we have to work to together? Why the hell do we have to do that?” Jesse tried to argue before Madison shot him a dark look.
“You said you barely did anything, I think it’s fair to split it after I did a page long introduction and formatted a citations page,” Madison replied curtly.
“Yeah, uh, I guess that’s fair,” Jesse said sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.
“We should also be sharing Google Docs and have a group chat ready,” Madison added.
“Okay, who’ll set that up?” I asked.
“Seems only fair that it’d be you, oh naked leader,” Jesse snarked.
“I’d hate to admit it, really I do, but he’s right,” Madison agreed. “Got to take charge responsibly Miss Quintero.”
It must have been really screwed up if these two could find common ground. I just gave a sigh and replied, “Okay.”
“Now come on Red,” Madison said, turning to Jesse, “We need to talk.”
“Talk? About what?” Jesse questioned gruffly.
“Before you two can work together, we need to talk about how we’re working as a team,” Madison responded icily, “Besides, this will give Inez plenty of time to do the share of work she didn’t do.”
“It will?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Mads, completely no nonsense in her facial expression and tone of voice, told me, “Inez, you mean the world to me, but making it through college is a big priority for me and I can’t afford to let anything mess up my GPA. Please get it in gear and start pulling your weight.”
Let it be said about Madison Murray; while she’s usually a ray of sunshine, she can be fierce and determined when it’s something she cares about. And just my luck, she really cared about college.
I wanted to say something, and quite frankly so did Jesse, but Madison quickly shuffled him off to God only knew where, leaving me standing there, in front of the door, naked and confused. But just before I began to figure out what I wanted to do next, a cartoonishly loud gasp came from behind me.
“My goodness, Inez! What are you doing?!” Grace shouted, trying to keep her voice low though failing miserably at doing it. I turned around to see her running up to me, jacket outstretched and in the process of enveloping my body. What were the odds that two people would use their jacket to cover me in one day?
By the time I knew what was going on, Grace was shepherding me away from the classroom and towards the student common area. The honey blonde woman held me tight within her jacket all while she looked around trying to make sure the place was empty. When we entered the common room, I figured it was time to speak up.
But I couldn't get a word in.
“What happened to you? Is this a prank of some kind, do you need me to call the police or something?” Grace asked, her voice laced with concern. Yet, and I feel like jerk for pointing this out, I couldn’t help but notice her voice pitch went from Snow White to Minnie Mouse.
“Grace, Grace!” I interrupted, “Did you read the email?”
“What?” Grace asked, looking like she had just been hit in the head. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her emails. When she landed on the NLAC notification, her eyes went wide before blushing, “Oh. I'm sorry…I-I got caught up with some club related stuff I didn't see…So it's talking about…”
“Me, yeah,” I said, sliding out of the girl’s jacket while it all started sinking in for her.
Grace looked at me blankly for a moment, “So…are you doing this for a passing grade?”
“What…no! I'm doing this because…” I started. But then I caught myself. I knew that the NLAC wanted to use this version of The Program to get rid of the nudity stigma, but what was in it for those involved? The Program was succeeding in high school because of the reward of a passing grade. But who in college wanted to take that option?
“I understand wanting to remove the…taboo aspect of this. I don't entirely understand why but…I am not the one to judge,” Grace said as she took her jacket back, “But I can't figure out why you would do this outside of some…perverted reason…?”
“I'm not a pervert!” I spat out, “I just…like being naked!” Damn, phrasing.
“So why are you publicly putting yourself through this?” Grace asked, putting a finger to her cheek.
“To help remove the stigma!” I said standing up.
“Then…what's your sales pitch to everyone else?” Grace questioned me genuinely, no ill intent in her voice “Since you are leading this movement on campus and all. Because unless you have a cause people can rally behind, ‘removing stigma’ isn't a lot to go on.”
I wanted to shoot back with the most amazing argument that would completely shut down any follow up questions from her. But…I couldn’t. Talking with Grace Hutchinson of all people, I realized how much I had rushed into something that was important. Then again, debating and asking questions was her whole schtick: if anything, she was the perfect person to actually challenge me like this.
I let out a sigh and threw in the towel, “I’m going to level with you Grace, I don’t really have a plan for all this. I jumped at the chance to be this leader type figure because I really enjoy nudism and want to get other people into it. Yet…I’m having trouble even advertising it.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling embarrassed over what I had gotten myself into. “Some leader I turned out to be.”
“I have to admit,” Grace said, “It is strange to have no plan for such a big movement, especially if you’re leading it.”
Brutal honesty in a baby blue blouse and a pencil skirt. The universe just loved messing around with me, didn’t it?
Grace knitted her thick eyebrows, her finger still on her cheeks, deep in thought. “You know, the pickle you’re in almost reminds me of when my group started here.”
“How so?” I asked, wondering where she was going with this.
“Well, when you’re in college, balancing church and your studies can be a handful. So, the group was founded to give that same sense of belonging and connection to the Lord,” Grace told me, eyebrows raised.
“In return,” she continued, “we provide nonviolent dialogue and hold sales to help around the community. A win-win in my book.”
I was listening to her when it started hitting me…sense of belonging…club…
“A college nudist club!” I blurted out, startling Grace a little.
I started pacing around the room as the idea started pouring into my head. “We can make this a formal club, where we educate people about nudism and provide people a place where they feel safe and welcomed. We can even do fun activities like going on trips to spread awareness or hold parties.”
“Or do bake sales,” Grace chimed in.
“Or do bake sales!” I burst out. I turned and looked at Grace directly.
“Is there anything I need to know about making my own club?”
“Um, well, the college requires each club to have a minimum of five members to be approved. After that, it’s just a matter of running it efficiently and making sure you keep on track with the club’s intended goal,” Grace explained.
“Alright, I think I can do that,” I said, feeling fired up. I now had a clear goal in mind, something to work toward to. In that moment, I felt confident about being the face NLAC wanted me to be.
“Thanks for everything Grace, you’ve been more of a help than you realized!” I told her. “I’d hug you but, well, you know…”
“You’re fine,” she said, holding her jacket closer to herself, “And I’m really glad I could help! Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll be on my way now. I have a lot to think about right now.”
And so, we both exited the room and went our own separate ways. Who would have ever guessed that Grace Hutchinson of all people would have been a major help to the nudist cause?
I wandered into the library, completely ignoring the looks and whispers from others, hoping I’d find Jesse and Madison. Sure enough, they were sitting at a table far in the corner, books and a laptop between them. Jesse was slumped over in his chair, his usual scowl on his face while Mads was typing away at her keyboard.
“Guys, I have a great idea for NLAC!” I told them, trying to keep my voice down, “It was actually Grace Hutchinson who gave me the idea to be fair.”
“Grace?” Madison stopped typing and looked at me.
“Is she one of the ones who asks those Jesus questions in front of the library?” Jesse asked, turning to my direction.
“Why did I think she was in my biology class? Is there another Grace on campus?” Madison wondered out loud.
“Guys listen, I was talking with her about the Program coming to college and she suggested I open up a nudist club,” I rushed through my explanation, “I’m beating myself for not thinking about this before.”
“I’m happy for you Inez, really I am,” Mads said to me sweetly, “Now, after your chat with Grace, did you happen to work on what we talked about earlier?”
She had a smile on her face but the look in her eyes was ice cold. That was the signal to stop screwing around and focus on the project.
“Well…we can talk about the club after we work on the project and I catch up on my half of the work,” I said, “In fact this would be the perfect opportunity to start that damn group chat.”
“Good hustle, I appreciate the effort,” she said, turning back to her laptop.
Pulling out a towel and my own PC from my backpack, I sat with my partners and started doing the work.
Jesse leaned over and whispered to me, “I took care of the Google Doc. One less thing on your workload.”
I was surprised he took initiative like that. I thought back to him trying to cover me up earlier; he went about it in his own crude way, but he was trying to be…helpful. Didn’t think I’d see that coming from him but it was genuinely nice to see. “Thank you, Jesse,” I replied to him sincerely.
“Also, your friend scares the crap out of me,” Jesse said.
“I know Jesse, I know.”