Grace

“So, you mentioned before that you used to be quite active, although you still haven’t divulged the reason why for some reason...but anyway, I was wondering if you wanted me to refer you to a gym?” you asked, struggling to find the right words to bring up the subject.

“Why the sudden recommendation? You're not telling me I look fat are you?” you playfully pouted.

“No nothing like that, it’s just… My Mom’s friend owns the place. It's the woman only gym in the centre of town and I’m trying to get a part-time job there. I’m sure seeing a friendly face every now and then while I'm on my shift would help keep me occupied.

So the recommendation is more for my benefit than your own. And before you say anything, there's no way in hell I would ever consider you fat and I think I got a pretty good look on Saturday to base that opinion off” you answered, bringing up the changing room incident before muttering a quick “again sorry about that” as Rebecca’s face blushed.

You hadn’t spoken about what happened on the weekend so far and the embarrassed look on Rebecca’s face showed that she clearly hadn’t forgotten the event.

“Anyway, you want me to go to the gym?” she asked, looking flustered and moving the conversation back to the original topic to avoid discussing the time at the mall.

“I’d appreciate the company. I still don’t know if I’ll get the job or what my hours would be but I thought I’d mention it anyway. I’ve heard it's a nice place so even if you decide to start going there to blow off some steam from say, an overbearing mother who slams doors… then I wouldn’t blame you either” you replied with a grin, calming her down and getting a smile in return.

Grace was the one who you were betting on when it came to introducing Rebecca into the group. Although Rebecca already had a connection with Sarah and Emma, there was the chance that she would just see them as students and not go any further than small talk. You did consider asking Rebecca to help tutor one of them or even yourself but that might cause an even bigger divide that you wanted to avoid. Maybe in the future once everyone became more casual around each other but for now it wasn’t the best route to go down.

Out of the three subjects left, Grace seemed to be the one who would mesh together with Rebecca the most and with her apparent sporty past, you were hoping the two would get along. So far you had planted the idea in her mind and for now, that was all you needed to worry about until you could be sure that you would actually be able to get the job.

Now that you’d said your piece, you grabbed the first of the student tests off the pile and started your work on getting them marked. Rebecca did the same after only a few seconds of contemplation and the two of you progressed through the remaining documents. You were able to have a more natural conversation now that you were somewhat used to the work and talked about various topics while you had the chance. Being a teacher, she ended up asking about your studies and what you wanted to do after school which you replied to truthfully.

During the process of talking about your further studies and which college you were hoping to go to, you learnt that Rebecca’s sister was currently working at your desired campus and also gone into teaching, working as a lecturer in one of the sciences. You found it strange that both sisters would go into education when their mother didn’t appear to be the greatest role model but you decided not to pry too deeply into it.

The topic moved naturally towards family, both yours and hers as you learnt she had a sister as well as an older brother. You even managed to bring up the near-miss masturbation story that you had promised her to reveal much to your own embarrassment. From there you continued your conversation and the pile slowly lowered within the next 45 minutes until you went to reach for another test to mark and realised there were none left.

You both let out a sigh now that the task had been completed and leaned back into your chairs to relax for a moment.

“And you have to do that every day?” you asked, already tired from doing it just the one time.

“Not every day but at least twice a week” Rebecca replied, happy to have someone to vent to.

“Well… I’ll try and help lighten the load if you want but… please spare me from doing it every day” you joked, putting your hands together in mock prayer.

“Even if it was just the one time I thank you for the support. At least you helped break up the monotony for a change but I might take you up on that offer. Now, have we still got time to do your experiment?” she said, turning your attention to the clock which read 4 pm.

You wanted to get there at least a few minutes before 5 pm and you knew it took roughly half an hour to get to the gym so you still had some time to spare.

“Sure I’ve got time, are you okay with trying something new again or just the regular test as a baseline?” you asked, quickly thinking about how far you could push her again without crossing a line.

“Last time you wanted to try something I ended up nearly breaking your toes so are you prepared for the consequences?” she replied with a smile, keeping her tone playful but the look in her eyes told you she was still being serious.

“For you, I’d let you break all my toes and fingers” you responded, keeping up the half playful tone.

“Fine, we can try something new but don’t think for a second that I don’t know what you're trying to do” she declared, sounding slightly harsher.

She seemed to realise that the pretense of your ‘experiment’ was a way to get closer with her but the fact that she had seen through it and was still not turning you down could only be a good sign in your opinion.

“I’ll admit that this did start as a way to talk with you but it can’t hurt to have something unique on an application. So, with that in mind, take off your shirt” you ordered, looking her dead in eyes.

“Wait what?!” she blurted out, immediately leaning forward in her chair.

“You heard me, take off your top. Last time we got a raised pulse when we got a reading from your neck and from your reaction afterwards, I’m pretty sure you were a little embarrassed so I wanted to test that again. Plus we both know I’ve seen you before and if I recall you weren’t exactly the calmest when we were trapped in that changing room” you explained.

“I don’t think this a good idea, I mean what if…” she said before you cut her off.

“Well now that I think about it, you were just in a bra and panties at one point so you could take your skirt off as well. It's up to you but you have to pick one.“ you interrupted, not letting her continue that train of thought.

The expression on her face showed that she was conflicted but you were hoping she would give in and just pick one of the two options. In either case, you would win if she picked either option but you still needed her to choose one in the first place.