But first!

Okay, think Maria! What reason could you give them that they'd both be topless right now? What's a good excuse for why someone is topless? Uhh...

Then, I heard the door creak open. I turned, both hoping and regretting seeing someone there. I wanted someone to help me out of this situation that I kept digging myself deeper into. At the same time, I had two topless ladies right in front of me and I was enjoying my private time with them.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. I had nearly forgotten about this."

In walked Gary, one of the nerdiest kids in my class. This group project situation suddenly went from an awkward lesbian sex porno in the making to an anxiety-inducing situation that I might just die from. First of all, he walked in when both of them were topless. Secondly, HE walked in. He. A guy. Someone who I can't control with the ring. Third, Gary knows me well. He knows how awkward I am and, well, naive I am as well. He was one of the few guys I could really talk to about things. Andwemayhavesortakindahadabitoffriendswithebenefitsbutthat'sbesidesthepoint!

Gary shut the door behind him as he slowly took in the scene before him. If this was an anime, this would be the point that he would have a raging nosebleed. "Umm, this is the film group, right?" He nervously looked over at me, who looked just as nervous back.

"Y-Yep, you're in the right place," I stammered. "Come, uh, have a seat." I could barely look anyone in the eyes.

Gary took a seat next to me and sat his bag down. 'So, um, ladies, what did I miss?" He was very clearly trying not to stare at them. He may have been a perverted nerd, but he was still a gentleman about it.

"So, Maria's writing the script. We act it out." Carmen showed absolutely no signs of shame or awkwardness about being topless. Tae, on the other hand, had her arms crossed over her chest since the moment the door opened. "But, to get into character, we had to take our tops off."

"Oh, did you now?" I could hear a bit of the playful teasing in his tone. "So, um, what's the script so far?"

"Y-Yeah!" Tae said, still having her arms crossed and keeping an eye on Gary's gaze.

"So, um, the reason you two are topless is because the world has been hit with, um," I stammered, trying to come up with excuses and just kinda started saying the first thing on my mind. "Aliens!"

"Aliens?" Carmen asked, still not looking up from her phone. "Sure, but then why did we take off our tops?"

"Oh, that's because, um," I was at a complete loss for words. Sure, I could have come up with some excuse for them, but with Gary here? The ring was just out of the question! What was I going to do?

"Because it's part of the new government procedure for handling the aliens!" Gary immediately started to take charge into the scene, or rather, his lower half definitely started to.

"What?" Tae looked even more confused than before.

"Oh, um, yeah yeah," I said, feeling my stride and my more Ringmaster side beginning to take charge. "So, these aliens, they, um," I turned over towards Carmen. Perfect. "They drain the brains of people, turning them into emotionless husks!"

"Yeah! And so, no matter what you did to them, they wouldn't react, right?" Gary said, giving me a gentle nudge.

"Right! So, like, Carmen is perfectly showcasing how an infected would be!" I gestured over to her. "Look at her. She's topless without any hesitation or anything." I did see Carmen smirk a little at that.

"Ah, but you aren't infected," Gary said, turning towards Tae. "That's why you're so embarrassed about being topless."

"I mean, I guess that makes sense," Tae said, still keeping her arms crossed. "So, we're both topless to show off who is and isn't infected?"

"Oh, I mean, this is just the start and set up. This is for brainstorming after all, right?" Gary gave me another nudge. "This is a short film, so what should the next small snippet be?"

"Oh... Uhhhhhhh...."