She tries to talk her way out

"P-please, just go!"

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Yes! I just... lost my clothes but please actually just go!" Hannah blurted out.

"Lost? Lost how?"

"Does it matter?" Hannah said as she scrambled to a crouched position, arms wrapped around her body. "-I...-".

The rest of the little group now gathered to gawk at her. Hannah kept herself small. She was bright red, her hair falling haphazardly over her face.

"Soooo, no danger?"

"N-no. I am fine. Someone is getting spare clothes. Just... leave me be, please?"

The guy laughed. "Alright, you do you, I guess."

The group turned and walked away, although they kept throwing curious glances back at her. She looked back with dismay as no sooner than they had reached the main party crowd they were already pointing back at her. In a quick moment a dozen more heads turned her way. She quickly ducked back down.

It did not help. She could hear them from behind the wooden wall. Laughing. Guessing. Someone said there was a naked girl by the slide. Someone else said they were making it up. Hannah pressed herself smaller against the rubber mat, key clenched in one fist, the other arm still wrapped over her breasts. Jenna was supposed to be back with clothes. Where was Jenna?

"Oh my god, stop pointing, you idiots." A girl's voice, closer than the rest. "You're going to freak her out. I'll go look, just... stay here."

A few of the boys protested, still laughing, and she shut them down.

"No. You're being creeps. If someone's actually back there she doesn't need you lot staring. I'll check she's okay."

Footsteps on the rubber. Hannah's heart hammered. She considered bolting after all, but the open stretch to the hedge was right in view of the crowd now. She stayed put, face down, as the girl came around the wall.

"Hey, I-" The girl stopped.

Hannah peeked up through her hair. The girl was about her age, a drink still in one hand, flushed from the party. For a second she looked genuinely concerned. Then her eyes flicked down, over Hannah's bare back, her ass, the arm that was doing a poor job of covering her chest, and the concern got tangled up with something else. Curiosity. She had heard them. She had come to see if it was true.

"Oh," she said, softer. "Okay. Wow. Hi."

She stepped fully behind the wall, blocking the view from the crowd, which was at least something. She glanced back over her shoulder and waved the boys off without looking at them.

"It's fine! Go away! She's fine!" Then, quieter, to Hannah: "You are fine, right? They're saying you're like... actually naked back here."

Hannah could only nod, mortified. The girl's gaze had not really left her.

"So that's true then." Not a question. She bit her lip, trying not to smile and not quite managing. "Sorry. That's... I just wanted to make sure the guys weren't being assholes. Which they were. But, uh." She crouched a little, still looking. "You're really just sitting here like this? At a party?"

"Someone's getting me clothes," Hannah whispered. "Please don't tell them. Please."

"I'm not gonna drag them over." The girl hesitated, then sat down on her heels, putting herself at Hannah's level. Up close it was obvious she was still taking it in. The rumours had been one thing. Seeing it was another. "I can wait with you if you want. So they don't come looking. I just... yeah. I kind of had to see it for myself."

She said it like an apology. She did not look away.

They sat there. The party went on without them. Music, shouting, the occasional burst of laughter from the other side of the wall. Hannah kept expecting Jenna's face to pop around the corner with a bundle of clothes. It did not.

Minutes crawled. Then more minutes. Hannah's legs had gone numb from crouching. The metal of the slide was not warm anymore. She glanced toward the hedge, then at the girl, who was still watching her in little flickers she probably thought were subtle.

"She's been gone a while," Hannah muttered.

"Your friend?"

"Jenna. She said she lived close. She was going to grab me something to wear." Hannah swallowed. "It shouldn't be taking this long."

The girl grimaced, sympathetic and not entirely unhappy about it. "Yeah, I wouldn't wait on a drunk girl and a wardrobe. She might've gotten pulled into something. Or passed out. Happens."

Hannah's stomach dropped. She had the key. She could run. She could also sit here until the whole party came looking, still naked, with this stranger who had already seen everything.

The girl shifted closer, lowering her voice.

"Look. I can keep sitting here. Maybe she shows. Or..." She glanced at Hannah's bare shoulders, then away, then back. "I know a way around the long side of the hedge. My place isn't far either. I've got actual clothes. You wouldn't have to cross in front of all of them." She shrugged, trying to sound casual. "Up to you. I just wouldn't bet on Jenna at this point."