Nude Scholarship

Ms. Pershing's eyes widen. "This...Sam, this is a crazy joke, even for you."

She looks up at you, and her smile slowly fades as she realizes you're serious. "Sam, I...you can't honestly think this will work."

"Ms. Pershing, I don't have a choice," you say. "Every video site online and security camera in the city has seen me naked. No college is going to take me without a pity vote. This is the only shot I have left."

"Sam, I..." Ms. Pershing seems to be searching for words. "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"No, I don't," you say. "This whole program is offering scholarships to people with 'abnormal lifestyles that can be taught in class.' They listed 'nudism' as one, and that's the only way I can play off all my incidents."

The principal's eyes fill with pity. "So, that's actually your plan. To come into school naked? To walk nude throughout the city? How long are you going to do this?"

You wince. You hadn't figured out a time limit, and you don't have an answer for that. "I guess...until they say so?"

"Sam, this is absolutely -"

"Insane, yeah, I know!" You burst, not able to control your emotions. "But since I've turned 18, the summer was nothing but humiliation, and so has the beginning of the year! I'm done being embarrassed about this, and I'm done waiting for another random accident to strip me naked in public! If this is what it takes to make every at least accept seeing me naked and to make things less embarrassing, then goddammit I'm doing it!"

You calm down and expect the principal to yell at you for using such language in front of her. Instead, she just looks at you with a mix of sadness and acceptance. Pushing the paper towards you, she throws up her hands. "Alright, then. You've got my permission."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes," she says. "When your next school day starts, you may arrive here without your clothing. I will inform the teachers and the faculty ahead of time so they know what to expect."

"Um, t-thank you, Ms. Pershing." You don't like the idea of them knowing about this, but you realize it's better this way. It would be bad news if a strict teacher or Salma or, gods forbid, Crystal saw you naked without knowing your plans.

"Just be careful, Sam." Ms. Pershing says as you leave her office.

As you leave for the day, you look at your phone and your extensive friends list. Chris, Alexandra, and Amy are at the top. You decide to immediately to tell them about your plan, but you're not so sure about the others. Even though they're going to see you naked anyway, it's embarrassing to just say to them, "Hey, I'm going to school naked for probably the rest of the year!"

Sending the message to Chris, Amy, and Alex wipes that away. Instantly, a ton of texts come back to you from your female friends. It looked like one of the three had told someone else.

No way! You're going to school naked? - Chris

Is it actually on purpose this time? Or are you just going to flash us all again? - Brittany

Just beating the rush and skipping to it, eh? Hope you can keep that dick down! - Dana

How are you going to go to PE with that thing swinging around? - Denise

Won't you get cold? - Luna

My dad has a shovel - Monica

You laugh at Monica's non-sequitur. The other girls' comments also make you smile. At the very least, you can count on all your friends to make you feel better throughout this crazy nude scholarship.