It's Published

Lexa woke up early on Saturday morning with a feeling of unease. Today was the day her photo was published. She entertained the thought that maybe her friends wouldn't notice, or wouldn't believe it. There were a hundred women in the magazines, they could easily just pass over her page. It was silly, she knew enough people who read T.I.T.T.I.E.S religiously that one of them would be bound to spot her.

The clock next to her bed displayed the time 7.03 AM. Deciding there was no point trying to sleep now, Lexa rolled out of bed and threw on a loose t-shirt and leggings. She had a quick shower and breakfast (not at the same time) and then, not knowing what else to do, decided to take a walk.

There was a cycling trail that went from campus to a small village nearby, she decided to follow that and take in some of the country air. After twenty minutes or so, reached the village and sat on a bench facing a patch of grass some of the locals referred to as a park. A few dog walkers went by and perhaps one jogger, but otherwise it was completely quiet. That is, it was quiet until a queue of people began to gather outside a small shop at the corner of the park. It was about seven men and four young women chatting to each other like old friends.

'It's a tiny village,' thought Lexa, 'they probably all grew up together.'

After a few minutes, a van pulled up outside and a man stepped out. opened the back of the vehicle and pulled out a large stack of magazines and stepped up to the shop door. There was a small cheer from the crowd as swung the stack of magazines past them.

Wait.

Those weren't just magazines, those were T.I.T.T.I.E.S, her photo was in them.

The man holding the magazines was greeting the queuers jovially while fumbling with a long key chain to get through the door. Finally he got the door open and laughed saying, "Alrigh', cam on in."

The people filed into the shop. In a couple of minutes, they would all be looking at her tits, and there was nothing she could do about it. She felt conflicted about it, realising she had only seen the picture through a tiny square in Andi's camera, never having seen it in print properly. Well, if everyone else was going to see her, she might as well too.

Lexa got up from her bench and walked over to the stop, trying not to imagine the judgmental eyes of strangers on her. She saw a much depleted stack of T.I.T.T.I.E.S at the till where the shop keeper was still talking to another customer over a magazine. It was a woman, she and the shop keeper were actually browsing topless photographs like the Sunday paper and chatting congenially as if it were nothing at all.

Not wanting to look like she just stopped in for the magazine - although it appeared everyone else did - she walked past a few shelves to pick up something else. Eventually she settled on a sandwich and a drink and awkwardly shuffled to the check out. The shopkeeper smirked as she tried to nonchalantly ask for a T.I.T.T.I.E.S. magazine, her attempt at buying the other things obviously hadn't worked. She asked for a bag, trying not to blush, and the shopkeeper handed her one with a knowing look.

She kept her head down as she almost speed walked back towards campus. She could feel the magazine bumping into her leg with every step. She wasn't sure if she should stop and look now, or if she should throw it in to the next bin she passed. Lexa didn't know what to feel, she just stared at the floor as she marched on. She only stopped briefly as she walked past the student union office; there was a large crowd of students waiting outside. They were waiting for their copies of T.I.T.T.I.E.S. the university gave them out for free. Lexa wondered if she should have waited with the other students and saved herself the money, but realising that she was more likely to be recognised, she decided going to the village was a better idea.

Finally, back in her room, she shakily pulled out the magazine. The cover was a wiry black woman who could have been in her forties, she was smiling coyly at the camera with one arm over her small chest. She appeared to be completely naked, but she had one leg crossed in front of the other so that the important areas were still hidden. Despite the fact she wasn't technically "showing" anything, the picture looked particularly brazen, even by the standards T.I.T.T.I.E.S. it normally kept.

Lexa opened the cover: page 1; Alice Larby, 32, nurse from Bradford. She looked great, but Lexa could barely hold herself together enough to appreciate her.

Page 2; Sarah Crook-Ellis, 39, accountant from London. Lexa hardly noticed as she flicked through to the next page. Gasping as she saw the image on page three.

Alexa Willis, 18, Student from Wiltshire.

Her photo in crystal clear detail looked stunning, her legs looked long and elegant, her eyes looked sharp and commanding. The woman in the photo was clearly in full control of the room and the people in it. She, Lexa, was in control. She barely looked at her breasts, though they were clearly visible in the center of the picture, she just looked at the picture as whole, feeling truly proud of her body for the first time in years.

She let herself look at the picture for a while longer, eventually she began to flick through the rest of the publication. It was page upon page of women, each embodying a different personality and despite the fact that no two looked anything alike, they were all beautiful. Their breasts were large, small, flat, saggy, full, stretch-marked, and smooth as porcelain, they all looked perfect.

After a long while, Lexa felt hungry again and stood up to go to the kitchen. Shelly was there working, but she had an open copy of T.I.T.T.I.E.S. next to her laptop. Lexa didn't want to tempt fate with exposing her secret to Shelly, so she said nothing.

"Hi Lexa, you alright?"

'Fuck. Well, she doesn't sound like she knows' thought Lexa, 'I'll just try not to mention it.'

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Fine, thanks." Shelly chirped happily, "I've been reading this actually. I'm sure it's the most risque issue yet, just look at the cover." She showed Lexa the cover, the woman on the cover smiled at her teasingly, as if gloating that Shelly would learn the truth any minute now.

"More tits for you to ogle?" Said Lexa, trying not to let the anxiety show in her voice.

"Don't be so... reductionist about it. It's actually funny, I came across this massive coincidence in it, the chances must be one in a million."

"What?" Lexa knew what was coming, but couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Look, this girl looks just like you." Shelly immediately turned to page three, and there she was, proud and confident and intimidating in all her glory.

"Yes very, funny," sighed Lexa bemusedly, not knowing whether to look at Shelly, or her own boobs.

"I know it's not actually you, but you've got to admit, they found another teen girl, who likes like you with the same name."

Lexa paused, confused, "You know that is actually me right? I got summoned for topless duty last week."

"Yeah right." Shelly giggled, "Like you'd ever look that stoic, just last week you were against the very existence if this magazine, now you want me to believe you're in it?"

"The magazine has my name and age."

"It's a common name."

"The same tattoo on the right shoulder!" Lexa even rolled up her t-shirt sleeve to show Shelly, the floral design.

"They're similar, but not the same, I'm sure of it. Her's are a slightly different colour and the flowers are in the wrong place."

Lexa grimaced, surely there was a word for this, Shelly had convinced herself of something and now physically couldn't see that she was wrong. Now that she had seen it, Lexa actually felt a little offended that Shelly refused to believe she was the girl in the picture, she could be sexy and confident too.

At that moment Lexa had an idea, well, more of an impulse, she was already doing it before she realised what it was. In one fluid motion Lexa grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, dropping it to the floor beside her.

"Look, that little mark on the right nipple, I have the same one, that's me, topless, in a magazine."

Shelly just sat stunned for a moment, mouth hanging agape. Then she picked up the magazine, eyes flitting between Lexa, topless on the page, and Lexa, topless in front of her.

"Jesus Christ, Lex, why didn't you tell me you were selected?"

They sat and talked for a couple of hours, first about Lexa's experience on set and the weird methodology of Andrea, then they moved on to other women in the magazine, and then they were chatting about nothing for ages.

Eventually, Lexa had to go back to her room to start working. As she passed the mirror on the wall, she stopped.

"Oh!" she said out loud. Only just realising she had left her top on the kitchen floor.