'Easy!' Kelly told them – then stood up, unzipped the sun dress she was wearing, and let it drop to the floor, revealing that she didn't have a thing on under it. Looking at them, she said 'I'll bet that if any of you have the courage to wear just your panties and bra – while I'm naked! – that it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to me – OR Dan!' – and with that reminder, all of them looked over at me. I didn't have to pretend to be disinterested whether Kelly was naked or not: I'd simply seen her dressed, undressed, and everything in between too many times. And when I looked at each of them, I looked them directly in the eyes – making it clear to them that it didn't matter to me either way, whether they wanted to do as Kelly challenged, or not. When they turned back to her, Kelly sat down again, a smile on her face.
Initially, none of them was ready to do much of anything except stare at her. To get things off of dead stop, I asked them how they were doing in school – the incongruity of it made all of them smile, but they answered, even though Kelly continued to get the occasional look. After a bit, the conversation was in full swing again.
As we continued to talk, though, I was discretely watching them to see what kind of reaction they would have to what Kelly had done (which HAD surprised me). After a bit, I noticed Crissy and Sheri having one of the silent conversations with each other that Kelly and I had grown used to witnessing. A bit later, both of them stood up, and to the surprise of the rest, proceeded to strip down to panties and bras before sitting down again and rejoining the conversation. A couple minutes later, after a quick glance at me, Claire followed their example; shortly after that, Evelyn did. Last to go was Bonita. The whole time, though, Kelly and I kept the rest in conversation, totally ignoring whoever was engaged in taking their outer clothing off.
By the time half an hour had passed, the girls had all stopped looking over at me, checking to see if I was ogling them or not – it didn't take them long to figure out that I was treating them the same way, whether they had all their clothes on, or not. Another half hour went by, and Kelly told them 'See? It's been an hour since I stood up. In that time, all of you have gone to just your panties and bras – and it hasn't made the slightest bit of difference to any of the rest of us. I know that all of you were pretty nervous about it at first; and it took you a little while to relax. But once you got used to it, it didn't matter any more, did it?'
Claire blushed a little, and glanced over at me, before telling her 'Well, I was kind of nervous about Dan; but when I realized that he was talking to me the same way after as he was before, and he wasn't, you know, looking at me, it just kind of slipped out of my mind after a while.'
'The point I'm trying to make with all of this' Kelly told them, 'is that there are people who will respect you for what's in your heart and in your mind before they think about what your body looks like. People like that are very, very rare – Dan is one of them. In fact, I, and several of my friends, learned what it really means when someone cares more about your head and your heart from Dan. Do any of you think that Dan was – as Claire put it – looking at you?'
All of them shook their heads, then turned to look at me, suddenly curious about it.
Kelly told them 'There isn't a doubt in my mind that Dan doesn't think that all of you are attractive – not because you're only wearing your underwear, but because he's had the chance to really talk to all of you.' Kelly laughed, and continued 'The first time I met Dan, it was when there were eight of us having a sleep over at a friends house. Our friend kept telling us what Dan was like, and we couldn't believe it – so we decided to test him by making him the judge for a fashion show we put on. Except that we were all wearing our night gowns!'
All of the girls looked at her in disbelief, and Kelly nodded that it was true, telling them 'Believe me, were we ever surprised when he not only didn't do anything to make us uncomfortable, but he actually judged the nightgowns, just the way we'd asked him to. Then, afterwards, we got him to tell us what kinds of stuff would look good on each of us. then we asked him what kinds of things he liked in a girl – and the whole time, he just talked to us as though we were as grown up as we liked to pretend we were. He didn't try to touch us, he didn't say anything to us about what we were wearing, or anything like that. The whole time, he was a perfect gentleman, acting as though a bunch of seventeen-year-old girls in nighties was something he saw every day. You know what the last thing he told us before we left to go to our friend's room was? That what mattered to him was what was in a girl's heart and in her mind – that what she looked like on the outside wasn't anywhere near as important to him. I think we spent the rest of that night trying to figure out what kind of guy he is – we just didn't have anything we could compare him to!'
The girls and I watched as Kelly stood up again and moved to stand in front of them. When all of them were looking at her, she did a slow pirouette in front of them, letting them look at her. At the end of it, she told them 'I know that I'm attractive – because I know it, not because someone tells me I am. But what really matters to me is that I'm attractive to Dan – and what makes me attractive to him is that I love him as much as I do, and that I try to do the very best I can for him. And I love him and do what I can for him because of how much he loves me, and how he does his best for me. Remember what I told you in class about trading values?' The five of them nodded, and Kelly went on 'That is how and why Dan and I love each other so much. And because we have confidence in ourselves, we're able to trust ourselves to know each other's actions and ideas and thoughts. That's why I said that there isn't a doubt in my mind that Dan finds all of you attractive – because I trust myself to know what Dan likes. And because I want to try and help you with the questions and problems you have, I also know that Dan is willing to help you, too – if you're willing to let him. It's getting close to time for all of you to go home, and there's something I want you all to think about: while you were sitting there in your bras and panties, all of us were still talking with each other – including Dan. Now, if it doesn't matter to Dan whether you're wearing all of your clothes, or not, do you really think that it will matter to him to hear to you talk about what's really on your mind? I want you to think about that question, and decide for yourselves if you're ready to open up and talk to us and let us help you.'
With that, Kelly went back to where her dress was puddled on the floor, picked it up and put it on before turning and telling them 'I think you'd better get dressed again. Your ride will be here before long, and I don't think you want to ride home the way you are now, do you?'
That made them all smile, and they quickly moved to do as Kelly suggested. I made no pretense of not watching them. But because I didn't leer at them or do anything else to make them uncomfortable, they didn't pay me much attention – except for Bonita, who was a trifle embarrassed at having to wiggle around to get her skirt up over her hips. When they were all dressed again, they sat down on the couch, and Kelly and I made small talk with them until Crissy and Sheri's father came to get all of them. As they left, each of them gave me a somewhat speculative look before waving goodbye.
When they were gone, Kelly turned to me and asked 'Well? Was it too big of a chance?'
I could only tell her 'I guess we'll find out soon enough.'
Crissy and Sheri were waiting for her after Kelly's next class at the school. They let her know that all of them had thought about what she'd said, and decided that they WERE ready to start talking about what they really wanted to know. With that out of the way, Kelly settled with them on when their next visit would be.
When they showed up, it was Bonita's dad that had brought them – and he wanted to talk to me. We went back into my home office and sat down. I simply waited until he was ready to tell me 'Mister Marshall, I have to tell you that I, and a couple of the other parents, are wondering why it is that you're willing to have our daughters visiting you like this. I think you'll admit that it is a bit unusual.'
'I suppose that it is, Mister Delgado. But as you probably know, my wife and I each teach a course at the school. Mine is geared toward trying to teach the kids to think – to figure out problems, and solve them. In my wife's class, she tries to teach the kids how to recognize and deal with the emotions and all that they're experiencing. My wife was the Valedictorian of her class at that school, and she had a bit of a rough time before she was able to make her speech; it was in the process of resolving that that she and I first came in contact with the Bishop. Some time later, we were able to meet with him, and provide him with some assistance in getting the school headed back toward where it stands today. As part of that, he asked us to teach the kids some of what they needed to know so that they were a bit more prepared to face the world when they graduated.'
He nodded, and I went on 'Every so often, one or the other of us finds a kid or two that really stands out from the rest. When we do, we try to help them – whether its an introduction to someone that has a job or something else the kid needs, or simply providing the extra encouragement and attention that motivates someone to start moving in the right direction. As it happens, this time it was five of them, from my wife's class. What we're doing these evenings is trying to give these girls some… I suppose you could call it advanced instruction or tutoring. Its something that I was able to do for my wife and some of her friends before they graduated, and now she's simply continuing the process.'
'And who are these friends of your wife's? What has happened to them?'
