Dressed for Pleasure

by D. L. Savage

  “And people get off on that?” Shawna blurted out.

  “You’d be surprised,” he replied. “Maybe it’s something about best friends – and believe me, we’ve had all kinds, two guys, two girls, guys and girls, but yeah. People obviously want to see those friendships explored ...”

  Again he paused, and Shawna shot me a glance, her face full of confusion, like she was desperate to believe what he was saying, but also that she suspected there was something more to this weird show than just answering questions and winning money. And I had to admit, I felt the same way. I didn’t trust him entirely, and my thoughts flashed back to the screen of the computer I’d seen when we arrived – to that teen couple making out on the bed in their underwear.

  “But we’re not friends like that,” she muttered nervously. “In case you were wondering. I mean, we’ve never ... done anything with each other. For a start, I’m a lesbian ...”

  She suddenly cut herself short, her pretty face flushing beet red. Normally, she wasn’t at all embarrassed about her sexuality, and would openly tell people all the time, but all of a sudden she seemed awkward and shy, falling into silence.

  “Interesting,” Michael said, like he was really mulling over what she’d just said. “Very interesting. And how about you, Aiden?” he said, training those big dark eyes on me now. “Are you gay?”

  “No,” I admitted, my own awkwardness flaring up. “I’m ... uh ... straight.”

  As Michael grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and scribbled down a couple of notes, I wondered what the fuck he was actually writing. Was our sexuality really that noteworthy?

  “So kids,” he said, looking up from his pad, “are you interested? Because I’d be willing to sign you both up today if you were.”

  I was about to say something polite, along the lines of we’ll think about it, when to my surprise Shawna spoke before I could.

  “And how much would we get?” she said, deadly serious. “Hypothetically speaking,” she added.

  “That depends,” Michael replied. “Some contestants have walked away with three or four hundred dollars ...”

  He paused, his cold gaze assessing first me then Shawna.

  “While others have come away with thousands.”

  By now my heart was booming and my head was spinning. The idea of winning thousands of dollars, just for answering a few questions about our friendship, seemed too good to be true, and again I suspected there was more to it than that.

  I heard Shawna mumble, “I don’t know, I’d have to think about it ...”

  “Well, why don’t I give you both our standard contracts to look over?” Michael said, opening a drawer and pulling out two print outs, then sliding them across his desk towards us. “Take those away and think it over, and if you do decide to pursue this further, my cellphone number is printed at the top there. The offer’s open, kids.”

  I finally ventured a glance at Shawna and she gave me an awkward smile, obviously just as torn and confused as I was right now. I watched as she reached out and grabbed the contracts, carefully folding them, then saying to Michael, “Well, yeah, thanks, we’ll ... uh ... think it over.”

  “Awesome,” he grinned. “I’ll see you out.”

  As we walked back through the main office in silence, I could feel my head spinning, as I tried to make sense of what the fuck had just happened. We’d actually been offered places on the show, and it really seemed like we could earn some money. Money that we desperately needed right now.

  Pretty soon, we’d reached the main door again and as we stepped outside onto the bright sunny sidewalk, Michael gave us a final smile at the door.

  “I hope to hear from you soon,” he said.

  Then the door slammed closed, leaving Shawna and I standing there, clutching those contracts, wondering what the fuck we were going to do ...

  5

  We walked in silence for a while, both of us privately pondering our situation. Shawna was the first to finally speak, saying, “I need a coffee,” just as we were approaching a Starbucks.

  Again I found myself thinking about how much it would cost us – she really seemed to be hell bent draining the last of our dwindling savings, first on expensive pastries this morning, and now this – but I didn’t argue as we walked in and joined the queue.

  When we got to the counter, she ordered a large Caramel Macchiato, while I just took a regular filter coffee, and then we carried them over to a quiet table in the back.

  “So what do you think?” she asked once we were seated.

  “I don’t know,” I replied, honestly. I took a deep breath, then added, “I guess I’m maybe considering it?”

  To my surprise, Shawna replied, “Me too.”

  “You think it really is just questions?” I asked tentatively.

  “Yeah, probably questions like, Now take your shirt off,” she laughed sarcastically. “That guy seemed kind of a sleaze bag. But still, we can say no, right? And it sounds like even if we just turn up, play along a little, but don’t do anything too risky, we’d walk away with some cash, right?”

  I nodded. I was thinking along the same lines. He’d really made it sound like we’d win some money, no matter what we did - or didn’t - do.

  As we sipped our coffees, we began to leaf through the contracts. They were written in that kind of confusing, legal jargon, but I saw that there was some consent stuff we had to sign – stating our legal age, and agreeing that we gave away all rights to the footage, etc. I kept trying to see if there was any hints as to some darker side to all this, mentions of nudity and so forth, but the contract seemed pretty standard, not that I had much to compare it to.

  Just as I was finishing reading through, I looked up at Shawna and saw that she was smiling at me, a big excited grin plastered on her pretty face and her big blue eyes sparkling.

  “What?” I asked, confused. “Do I have something on my face?”

  “Let’s do it,” she said.

  I felt my body flash with nerves at the idea.

  “Really?” I croaked.

  “Yeah, fuck it,” she replied. “We need cash don’t we, and this actually sounds like a pretty good way of making some. So why not? Are you in?”

  “Uh, sure,” I said, still unable to believe we were going through with this.

  “Cheers,” she grinned, offering her coffee cup to me.

  “Cheers,” I replied, clinking mine against hers.

  And just like that, it seemed to be decided.

  As I continued to drink my coffee, I watched on as she picked up her cell and called Michael’s number, listening in as she said, “Hey, yeah, it’s Shawna from the audition. Well, we’ve had a talk and ... yeah. We’ll be on the show.”

  I could feel my heart booming against my ribs, watching as she nodded and muttered, “Uh-huh, uh-huh,” and then said, “Cool, awesome. We’ll be there.”

  She hung up the phone, then grinned at me again.

  “It’s on,” she said. “We need to be there tomorrow, three pm. And we need to bring our passports, too.”

  “Wow, tomorrow,” I muttered. “They really don’t fuck around, do they?”

  “To be honest,” she replied, “I’m kinda glad it’s happening so quick. That way we won’t get second thoughts and back out, right?”

  I nodded in agreement.

  But at the back of my head, I couldn’t help but think again about that clip I’d seen on the computer screen – and once more the suspicion gnawed at me that maybe this wasn’t quite the innocent game show we’d been led to believe ...

  6

  The following afternoon, we found ourselves back in Michael’s office, as he looked over our contracts, nodding to himself as he read them over, then checked both our passports.

  As before, we were sitting on the leather couch, and we’d both dressed up for the occasion too, as best we could. I had on my dark blue skinny jeans and a fresh black t-shirt, while Shawna looked even hotter than usual, dressed in a sexy black mini dres
s that she’d pulled out from her closet, saying that she’d been saving it for a special occasion.

  I could see why! It was short and tight, her toned, tanned legs on full display, and it had this cool mesh panel in the center of the front too that gave off a tantalizing glimpse of her stomach beneath. She’d take ages that morning in the shower washing her hair, which was now tied in a high glossy ponytail, and she was wearing more makeup than she usually did, too, her plump lips glistening with pink gloss and her big cheekbones accentuated with subtle blusher, while her big blue eyes sparkled in the light of Michael’s office from all the glittery mascara she’d put on.

  “Good, good,” he murmured as he looked over my contract, setting it down on his desk, then leafing through Shawna’s too. Once he was finished, he looked at us both again, his white teeth shining as he flashed us a grin, announcing, “Well, it seems like everything is in order.”

  Then he picked up a car key fob from his desk and jiggled it at us, saying, “Let’s go.”

  “Wait, we aren’t filming it here?” Shawna asked, a little confused.

  “Oh no,” he smiled. “There’s a place we use downtown.”

  He pushed himself up to his feet and we followed suit. As we followed him out through the office, I fell in behind Shawna, occasionally catching delicious wafts of her sweet smelling shampoo and perfume.

  And as soon as we stepped out onto the street, Michael pushed a button on the key fob, and a gleaming black Range Rover on the opposite sidewalk deactivated its lock, and I felt my stomach lurch all over again at the thought of getting into some strange dude’s car and driving off to god-knows-where.

  But I just told myself that this car must have cost a fortune, which meant that Michael must definitely be making some serious bank from all this, and if we were lucky, then maybe by this evening Shawna and I would have some money of our own, too ...

  * * *

  We rode in silence, both of us sitting in the back like school kids, just staring out of the windows at the passing city, as Michael blared out some hip hop from the speakers. I wondered exactly how old he was. He seemed maybe in his mid twenties, although it was hard to be sure. But he had the tattoos and the hipster beard, and for some reason I found myself thinking about how, unlike me, he probably had no problems getting chicks.

  I stared enviously at his broad shoulders and bulging biceps, wishing that my own arms weren’t so pale and skinny.

  Finally we seemed to be pulling up to our destination, and as I stared out of the window, it slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t some TV studio lot we were heading to, but instead a hotel. Michael parked the car in the lot, and then we both followed him in in silence, towards the glitzy glass doorways of the large building.

  I didn’t even dare shoot a glance at Shawna now, as we followed him into the plush silence of the lobby, then straight towards the elevators. I thought he’d have to at least get a key from the reception desk or check in or whatever, but instead Michael just pushed the button to summon the elevator, like he’d done this a million times before.

  The doors swished open and we stepped inside, and as it rocketed us upwards, I stared at our reflections in the mirrored wall opposite, my heart pounding as I looked from Michael, with his bright white t-shirt stretched tight across his impressive torso, then to Shawna, who looked so tiny and fragile next to him, her makeup still immaculate and that killer dress showing off her perfect, petite body to perfect, and then finally to me.

  I looked so fucking drab and boring in comparison to the two of them – just a skinny, dweeby nobody, with my floppy dusky blonde hair and my plain black t-shirt and my skinny jeans accentuating my stick thin legs in a way that I hated.

  But my depressive thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors swishing open again, and we followed Michael down the corridor to a room on the left.

  He knocked confidently three times, and a moment later a girl appeared at the door. She was young and pretty, maybe only a couple of years older than us, with striking auburn hair tied in a messy top knot, and she was dressed in a pair of oversize blue denim dungarees. She smiled when she saw us, and said, “Hey!”

  “Guys, this is Sara,” Michael explained, “she’s going to be assisting me on the shoot today. Sara, this is Shawna, and this is Aiden.”

  As we all said hello, I felt my nerves diminishing a little. I don’t know why exactly, but there was something about the idea of another girl being there with us that put me at ease somewhat about this whole shady deal.

  But as she led us into the nondescript hotel room, I caught sight of the large double bed in the middle of it, with lights already set up around it and again I felt my stomach vault with nerves.

  “You’re so pretty!” I heard Sara saying to Shawna. “And you’ve done such a good job with your makeup.”

  “Thank you,” Shawna replied, shyly.

  “I’d brought along my makeup kit,” she continued, gesturing to a large selection of makeup that she’d set out on the dresser near the bed, “but in your case I don’t think I’ll need to do a thing ... Aiden?”

  I turned to face her as she said my name.

  “I might need to put a little on you though.”

  “Uh, really?” I murmured, taken aback.

  “Don’t worry!” she laughed. “It won’t be noticeable. I’m not going to put lipstick on you or anything! I just mean putting a little powder on your face and whatnot. Those lights can make you look pretty shiny, otherwise.”

  “Oh right,” I said, somewhat relieved. For a moment there, I’d had visions of her giving me a full makeover.

  “Why don’t you come take a seat over here on the bed,” she said, gesturing to the end of the large double bed.

  I did as she instructed, going over and sitting down, holding still as she grabbed a compact of powder and began dabbing my cheeks and forehead, while Michael began setting up an expensive looking video camera on a stand, facing towards the bed.

  Soon my makeup was done and Michael had finished setting everything up, and he clapped his hands together and announced, “I think we’re all ready. Any final questions before we start?”

  I looked to Shawna. She looked just as nervous as I felt. I had no idea what the hell to expect, but at the same time I couldn’t think of anything to ask, so I just shook my head, and Shawna did the same.

  “Great,” he smiled. “In that case, why don’t you both climb up onto the bed?”

  I pulled off my sneakers and Shawna kicked off her shoes, and then we both did as Michael instructed, climbing onto the bed and sitting down, our backs resting against the headboard, as he moved behind the camera, looking into the viewfinder for a moment and adjusting the lens, while Sara angled a large boom mic towards us.

  “Okay, all ready?” Michael asked, and we nodded again.

  “Three, two, one ... rolling!”

  He hit a button on the camera, and a red light started flashing ...

  7

  “Well folks,” Michael announced in a loud confident voice, “we’re back with another episode of BFF Dare, and today we have two brand new contestants. Why don’t you both introduce yourselves to the camera?”

  I could feel myself freezing up, and to my relief I heard Shawna speak next to me.

  “I’m Shawna,” she said in a voice that was crackling with nerves.

  “And I’m Aiden,” I added, my own voice shaking a little too, as the lights blazed down at us and we both stared into the large dark lens of the camera.

  “And how old are you?” Michael continued.

  “We’re both eighteen,” Shawna said.

  “So you guys are best friends, right?” Michael said.

  “That’s right,” Shawna replied.

  I felt glad that she was answering all the questions, but just then Michael turned to me, saying, “Aiden, how long have you known Shawna for?”

  I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm and rack my brains. “Oh god,” I heard myself say. “I
don’t know ... since we were ... fourteen?”

  “Wow, that’s a long time,” Michael laughed. “And tell me, Aiden, in that time have you guys ever, you know, fooled around with each other or anything, or has it always been strictly platonic?”

  I could feel the tension and awkwardness building in the room, and I felt angry that he’d already started asking these kinds of questions, even though deep down I knew that it was probably gonna be about this kind of stuff.

  “We’ve always just stayed friends,” I said quietly, feeling my face start to glow with heat.

  “And why is that, Shawna?” Michael persisted. “Anything we should know?”

  There was another tense pause, and then she said, “I’m into girls.”

  “Interesting,” Michael replied. It was hard to clearly see his face with those studio lights shining at us, but I could tell from his voice that he was smiling. “You know what?” he continued. “I think I’ve just thought of our first dare! After all, that’s the whole point of this show, right? So, Shawna and Aiden, for three hundred dollars, would you be willing to switch clothes?”

  I felt my stomach flip. For some reason, I’d only thought that we’d be answering personal questions, not actually doing things. But it seemed like Michael had other ideas.

  “You’ve got ten seconds to decide,” he announced. “Feel free to talk amongst yourselves ...”

  I turned to look at Shawna. I could see the struggle playing out on her pretty face, and I felt the same way. Part of me just wanted to do it – hell, we were broke, and three hundred dollars would pay half our rent next month. But I knew it also meant taking our clothes off in order to switch them.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered to her. “I mean, I’m cool with it if you are? But it’s up to you.”

  She took a deep breath, her big blue eyes locking onto mine, then nodded.