Yes, thankfully

Walking the rest of the way home I had a long time to think about my situation. I was barefoot, naked, not a stitch of clothing or single penny to my name, my car keys and computer confiscated by my parents... and technically they were right, I hadn't paid for any of them. The closest ownership I had to the car was that my name was also on the insurance so I could legally drive it, but even that belonged to my parents, on paper, at least. They even made all the registration and insurance payments...

As I walked, though the coarse, scratchy pavement punished my bare feet, part of me had to admit that the pale sunbaked cement surface felt warm and strangely pleasing on my feet as well. The breeze felt amazing on my sides and shoulders and back and the sunlight made me aware of every part of myself. Walking home, which was no small walk!, there was a small park on the way, and I couldn't help but wonder how the green grass would feel on my feet... I cut across the park when I came to it, and felt... for the first time in a long time, very much alive.

Like my senses had been dulled by countless hours wasted on line doing boring crap on Facebook and Insta and whatever, and that now my body was awake and feeling the world again... I paused by a tree, reached out and touched it, and let the low branches and brush touched my calves and thighs and butt, the wind tussling my messy hair...

After a few moments, my mind snapped back to reality and I realized I was standing stark naked in the park and, blushing, picked up my phone and folder from the grass and hurried the rest of the way back home. When I got there, I was shocked by what I saw. "Jamie? What are you doing?"

"Just enjoying the sun," my twin sister said, as she sat splayed out, butt naked, on the front porch.

"But why are you naked? Did you piss mother off too? Did she take your clothes away as well?"

Jamie snorted. "No! You know me, I'm the good twin!"

I rolled my eyes. It was an old joke, and one that stopped being funny long ago. "So why are you naked?"

"Because, well, because I love you, and I wanted you to feel more comfortable. And, perhaps, not being the only one naked will make you feel a little more comfortable."

Stunned by this, I opened and closed my mouth like a fish.

"Love you too, sis," Jamie said, sitting up and taking an apple off a tray of fruit that our mother usually kept in the front room, but clearly Jamie had taken outside as part of her nude exhibition session.

"By the way, mom said you might be getting a job at C&C Bookstore?"

"H-how did you, how did SHE already know about that?"

"The owner called, said they wanted to give you an interview."

"Holy shit! She did?"

"Yep!"

I literally jumped and squealed. If I could get this job, soon I could put my clothes back on!

"By the way... would this job give you any discounts on comics...?" she said, obviously trying to sound completely matter-of-fact about it.

"Ugh!" I shook my head, realizing that Jamie was just trying to get on my good side so she could get free comics. I brushed past her and went inside, my bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor.

"Young lady!" my mother's voice caught me and made me jump. I turned to see my mother's frowning face and angry demeanor.

"Yes?" I sighed.

"I put a box of wipes by the front door, wipe your dirty feet before coming in!"

"My feet wouldn't be dirty if you would let me wear shoes!"

"Not until you can pay for them yourself! And what's this I heard about your sister giving you shoes the other day?"

"Um..."

"You are not allowed to wear any clothes, young lady! That means shoes! Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

"What do I say from myself? I say that this whole punishment is dumb! Who forbids their daughter from wearing shoes outside?"

"Well, considering you actually look like you might be getting a job, I was going to forgive you, but after that outburst, I'm going to take your room away."

"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What do you mean 'take it away'?"

"I mean no more hiding your nakedness in your room. You can sleep on the sofa now, I've already locked your bedroom. If you have anything in there you need, let me and your father know and we'll get it for you."

"Oh, you...!"

"Watch it!" she warned.

I closed my mouth and didn't say anything, as much as I wanted to.

"Good. Now, a Miss Caitlyn Clayborn called and said she and her business partner were willing to give you an interview the day after tomorrow, but that, in order to hire a naked girl, that you'd need a naturist or nudist registration card, so I want you to-"

Before she had finished her sentence, I had pulled out the temporary registration card the police officer had given me. "I've already got a temporary one," I interrupted. "The paperwork for the permanent one will be in the mail in a day or so."

My mother looked surprised. "How did you...?"

"I got stopped by the police on my way home, they helped me fill it out."

"The police! What did you do?"

"I walked around naked and they stopped me to see if I was okay. Turns out it's legal to be naked in public, but for protection against businesses discriminating against nudity you need a card."

"That's common knowledge, dear, if you paid attention to the real world and weren't just locked away in your room on your computer every day of your life, you'd realize that!"

I bit back a bunch of comments about how the internet was how people of my generation learned things, I just didn't care to learn this particular thing. Saying so to my mother when she got like this wouldn't help anything.

"Now, come on, we've got an appointment with the dermatologist."

"Dermatologist?"

"Yes, I've scheduled you an appointment for laser hair removal sessions. If you are going to be naked, you might as well be presentable - and..." she sighed. "For some reason, your sister has gotten it in her head that she wants to be naked and hairless too." She sighed as Jamie walked in, finishing her apple.

I sighed. "Yes, mom," I said, resigned to my fate.

"What's this about another naked girl?" Courtney asked her lover, Caitlyn.

"Apparently, I called the first girl's home, and got her mother, and left a message. But then I got a call from another young woman claiming to be the first girl's, Tammy's, twin sister. And this girl said she was a nudist too, and that she knows a lot about comics, that it's her favourite hobby, while her sister knows next to nothing."

"That sounds sort of suspicious."

"Well, I don't care which one gets the job, so long as we get a naked comics salesperson who brings all the nerd boys to the shop."

"Fair."