Discovering Melanie Ch. 6

“Tell me again, why you wanted me to come along,” Josy said after they got out of the car after parking, adding “not that I mind, you know”.

She gave Melanie a playful shoulder bump, the awkward question about spanking her ex apparently forgotten.

“I could use your opinion for an outfit,” Melanie said.

“Good enough for me. Anything specific?”

“Oh, just some new things for running.”

They headed towards a major sports outlet.

“I know you like running, but you should come with me to the gym sometime,” Josy said.

“I’m not really into gyms.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. Why don’t you like them again?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t,” said Melanie. She’d always disliked the communal changing rooms and showers in high school and this dislike transferred over to gyms.

“Alright, so where first?”

They walked into the store and started looking around. Josy followed Melanie to the runner section.

“I like this one,” Josy said, holding out a black and purple themed sports top. “I’m going to try it on.”

It looked nice but wasn’t what Melanie was looking for. She continued browsing the racks as Josy went towards the changing room area.

She finally found a few nice sports bras, all three in black:
First was a mesh pattern halter design that showed a lot of skin through the mesh between and above the cups with two solid stripes. The back was an open halter shape with meshed straps.
Second was an unpadded halter bralette with strappy design above the cups and mesh back.
Third was an open V-neck with basic back design. This last one left a lot of cleavage and Melanie doubted whether it would be effective for running.

When she arrived at the changing rooms, Josy was just done fitting her choice.

“I’m taking this one,” Josy said. She saw Melanie’s picks and her eyes perked up. “Nice choices. So, you want my opinion?”

Melanie nodded.

“Okay, come here, this one’s free.”

To Melanie’s dismay Josy pulled her into the changing room she’d just vacated.

“I think I’ll just fit them and show you outside,” Melanie said.

“Nonsense, this is much faster,” Josy said, taking the items off Melanie’s hands and waiting for her to take off her loose-fitting blouse.

Melanie hesitated but then turned to close the curtain. She’d barely closed it before Josy pulled her blouse up from behind. She lifted her hands and Josy pulled it off her. Filled with embarrassment, she felt like a child getting changed by a parent as Josy also took off her bra. Josy then turned her around and unbuttoned her pants.

“I’m not fitting for that!” Melanie exclaimed as she stopped Josy from pulling her pants down and rebuttoned them.

“Oh pish, fine,” Josy said, rolling her eyes. She moved around the topless Melanie and opened the curtain. “I’ll go look for some gym shorts for you,” she added as she left.

Melanie hurried to close the curtain again, doing her best to hide behind it. As she did, she saw a guy waiting by the entrance to the changing area, looking her way. He was not much older than her.

Josy did that on purpose, thought a red-faced Melanie.

She hurried to put on the mesh pattern design pick before Josy would come back. She had it on and was looking at herself in the mirror when the curtain opened again and Josy came in. Josy had brought a pair of pale blue CrossFit shorts and a pair of maroon gym booty shorts.

“That’s a cute one,” Josy remarked on her sports bra, as Melanie closed the curtain again.

“You think so? I like the design,” Melanie said, twisting and turning to show it to Josy. It was a little embarrassing as it showed a lot of her chest through the mesh.

“Now let’s try on the shorts, I’ll help,” Josy said as she again unbuttoned Melanie’s pants. “You change into the next top.”

“You know, I won’t be wearing those till spring,” Melanie said as she let Josy take off her shoes.

Then she started to take off the mesh pattern halter bra, while she felt Josy pull her pants down.

“You could wear them for yoga or to the gym,” Josy said as she pulled Melanie’s pants to her feet and helped Melanie step out of them.

Melanie pulled on the strappy design bralette along with the pale blue shorts. Josy said the shorts looked good on her and she had to admit the shorts looked nice, but they were quite skimpy and covered only a few inches of her legs. The bralette was not a success.

“You can see your panties outline,” Josy said.

“Well, I’m not removing them,” Melanie was adamant. “Besides, I have some at home that’ll fit with this.”

With a little help from Josy, she was again down to her panties and socks before trying on the open V-neck and the maroon booty shorts. She liked these shorts as well. These had even less leg and barely covered her butt, but it seemed to make the most of what she had in that area. She was not sure which pair she liked better, but she was actually looking forward to trying these out in the spring. The V-neck looked hot and judging by the gestures Josy was making, she thought so too.

“It’s not suitable for running,” Melany said.

“Just like I said before, yoga or gym. It looks fantastic with these maroon shorts,” Josy said.

She looked at the price tags. Both the sports bras and the shorts were a 2 for 1 deal.
Josy again helped with her shorts while she took off the V-neck.

Melanie looked down after taking off the bra. Josy was still kneeling in front of her, looking impish. This time she’d taken her panties off as well, and except for her socks Melanie was standing there completely naked with not a hair below her neck to cover her embarrassment.

She felt hot as she realized that only the thin barrier of the curtain was shielding her naked body from onlookers. Josy stood back up and placed Melanie’s pants and panties on the little bench.

Melanie reached out to grab her panties, but Josy stopped her, whispering in her ear, “have you ever touched yourself in public?”

She stared wide eyed at Josy, shocked at the question. She shook her head as answer to the question as well as to the implied suggestion, as she didn’t consider her own backyard as qualifying.

Josy gently pushed her backwards till she leaned against the wall, and then with her hand applied a light pressure on the inside of Melanie’s right knee. The touch was electric. With ever increasing arousal she gave in to the pressure, letting Josy guide her leg out and up to place her foot on the bench. Fully aware of the erotic pose this put her in, her heart was beating loudly in her chest. She was sure that the people bustling about on the other side of that curtain would be able to hear it.

She was intrigued and moved her hands up, placing them on her waist, and then moved them in towards her tummy, under her breasts and then down her abdomen and out again to her legs. Leaving her left hand on her hip, her right hand moved onto the raised leg, outward over her inner thigh and stopped there. It left her breathing hard and slightly trembling, but she wasn’t sure if she should continue.

Josy looked at her, but she just stood there, so Josy guided her right hand to her sex and left it there.

Did Josy really think she would touch herself there in the changing room? She would never imagine going that far, but standing there as she were, the location and the chance anyone could open the curtain at any time, it all fueled the fire inside her.

Still, the idea of touching herself in front of her friend felt uncomfortable. That is not something friends do in front of each other, she told herself. It breaks boundaries. What will Josy think of her if she does this?

“It’s okay, Mel,” Josy whispered just loud enough for her to hear, perhaps thinking along the same lines.

She pressed her hand down and felt the heat of her lips while Josy mouthed her approval.

She started moving her fingers through her folds, spreading around the moisture she found there. It felt wonderful and she wanted to continue, but her doubts distracted her.

On the other side of the curtain someone walked past and feeling frustrated she forced her hand away. She looked at Josy, wondering what she was thinking and whether she’d try to push her further, but Josy looked at her and nodded, picking up her panties and handing them to her.

She lowered her leg back to the floor, but before putting her panties on, to her embarrassment she knew she had to take care of the mess she’d made down there. Taking a tissue from her bag, she cleaned herself up, hoping that Josy wouldn’t make fun of her for that.

As she was getting dressed, it felt like she had just lost something important.

Afterwards, they paid for the two sports bras Melanie liked as well as the shorts. Josy wanted to pay for her shorts, asking that Melanie join her at the gym sometime, and bought the black and purple themed sports bra she’d tried on earlier.

They spent a while longer window shopping before they went back to the car to head home.

“I’m sorry, Josy, I couldn’t do it.” Melanie put her regret into words when they were in the car.

“Was it too much?” Josy asked. “You don’t have to apologize for that.”

“I wanted to, but…” Melanie hesitated.

“You don’t need to explain, Mel.”

Melanie was silent for a moment, unsure what to say. Josy had pushed her in a certain direction, but it hadn’t felt forced. The choice had been entirely her own, but now she felt regret at not going through with it.

“I remembered what you said last week. To take it easier on you,” Josy said. “I’m sorry for pushing.”

Melanie thought about Josy’s words. Apparently Josy had considered her words carefully and taken them to heart. She was a little surprised at that, but also thankful. Another piece to the puzzle that was Josy.

“I appreciate that, Josy,” she said and paused a moment. “But maybe sometimes I do need a little push.”

She was still frustrated and thought about how to explain it to Josy. If she hadn’t been driving, she thought she might have stripped off in the passenger seat just to prove she could diddle herself in front of Josy.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they got home she hugged Josy tightly, feeling a slight hesitation before Josy hugged her back.

“Josy,” she said as Josy turned to leave.

“Yeah, Mel?”

“We’re okay, right? Don’t be sorry for pushing.”

Josy nodded and left.

During Monday’s lunch, the four friends talked about their weekends and hobbies. Brian mentioned he went for a run the previous day, and after Melanie mentioned she also liked running, he suggested they go for a run together sometime. The idea of running with someone did appeal to her, even though it means having to adjust to the other, but she squashed that idea as they live too far apart. Perhaps after she moved, she thought.

Since the previous week, Brian would sometimes send her some funny texts and memes, even when they were just sitting near each other, and she found his sense of humor aligned pretty well with her own. They had also created a group chat and Sarah and Cohen each had their own distinct sense of humor. She was growing quite fond of her new group of friends and hoped they could hang out sometime outside of college after she moved.

That evening she got an email notification that she was eligible for one of the rooms. She called Josy to let her know.

“I also got assigned to a room.” Josy said excitedly. “Which room did you get?”

“314” Melanie answered.

“540” Josy said. “Guess we’re not roomies then. Still, almost as good as neighbors!”

They both laughed at that, though the conversation felt strained and Melanie wondered if Josy was disappointed in her after Saturday.

Melanie discussed the move with her parents. She’d already talked with them about signing up the previous week and they were happy she got the room. They decided to make the move that weekend, since the weekend after she’d be busy preparing for the first exams.

Tuesday morning, she went for another early morning run. She put on her runner’s outfit, this time with her new mesh pattern top under the jacket and headed towards the park. On second thought, she decided to run the park road near the highway.

Not long after, she was running past the footbridge and with a twinge of excitement briefly looked out to the little field. She couldn’t see the grass or bushes, just shadowy outlines. Anyone could be hidden there. The thought spooked her, and she ran a little faster.

By the time she estimated she’d run about 15 minutes, she slowed down to a walk, then turned back around. She breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the scents of nature. It felt good to be out there, working her muscles.

She stopped a moment to move her hands over her inner and outer quads, spending a little more time doing that than might be considered normal. She saw no one nearby and felt her excitement build as she ran her hands up her inner thighs to meet at the top. Though it was chilly, her core temperature was good, and her legs were warm.

Not the time nor place for this, she reminded herself. She noticed the sun was coming up as she sped up again.

By the time she passed by the footbridge again, it was light enough to easily see the surroundings and on a whim she crossed over to the little field.

She took a step onto the grass and noticed it was wet. It must have rained during the night and she knew it would soak her shoes. Head back or take off her shoes? She did the latter and with shoes in hand she walked into the grass.

The wet grass was cold to her feet, but the feeling of walking barefoot through the soft grass was wonderful.

Still hot from her run, she walked over to where she and Josy had been more than a week ago. She thought back to her bout of nudity there as she set down her shoes and lowered the zipper on her jacket to about halfway, bringing her sports bra into view. The mesh gave a tantalizing view of her chest, she thought.

Standing there, she could see over the bushes and make out the park path. It also meant she would be quite visible herself. She’d only encountered two other people during her run, both walking their dogs. Looking out in both directions of the path, she didn’t see anyone.

Laying down in the grass was not an option, she’d get soaked. But if she carefully put her jacket on her shoes, it would stay dry.

She unzipped her jacket the rest of the way and took it off and placed it on her shoes. Feeling the cold air on her hot skin, she hugged herself. If she didn’t do stretches while cooling down like this, she feared she’d get muscle cramps the rest of the way home. However, if she did her stretches here, her leggings might get wet. It was either go home now or stretch her muscles. She checked her phone, finding that she still had some time.

She wanted to do those stretches, she thought to herself.

Feeling excitement building at doing this out in the open, she hooked her thumbs into her leggings and started pushing them down. The cold air hit her hot skin and with a rush she realized she’d grabbed her panties along with it.

Too late for that now, she thought, feeling impish. Excitement built up inside her at stripping herself out here. At least her lower half wouldn’t be immediately visible from the path.

After pulling her leggings and panties off her feet, she carefully folded them and placed them on top of her jacket. Except for her sports bra she was now naked, and it made her jittery. The idea of running around the little field like this briefly crossed her mind.

She ran her hands over stomach, abdomen, between her thighs. Her skin still felt quite hot to the touch, but she’d get cold fast as exposed as she was. At least there was no noticeable wind, she thought as she started her stretches.

She imagined it would be quite a view for anyone to see her like that. Throughout the routine she stole touches on her bare tummy, thighs and even ran her fingers over her glutes and up her cheeks to meet at her tailbone. It was the most sensual stretching routine she’d ever done.

As part of her routine, she bent over forwards with her feet spreading apart to lower her body and placed her hands on the ground. She let her head drop down to see behind her.

There was a dog, about 15 feet behind her. It’s owner only a few feet further, holding the leash. It was a middle-aged man, and he was staring straight at her naked ass with a phone in his other hand, aimed at the ground in front of him.

Where did he suddenly come from?

While she was still bent over, she saw the wide grin forming on his face. He stood stock still, staring at her.

With her legs spread as they were and bent over like that, he could see all of her, she realized. Heat rushed to her face from more than just her stance. He was the first guy to see her privates, let alone in this extremely compromising position.

She suddenly felt really hot, the cold air forgotten. Her mind briefly flashed back to her shopping trip three days ago with Josy and she balanced on the razor thin edge between fight and flight.

He still hadn’t moved a muscle.

She shifted her left arm on the grass and brought her right arm up. Holding her slightly shifted stance, she brought her hand to her pussy, fingers slipping through her folds as she saw his mouth gape open. She was already wet and easily slipped her middle finger inside. She moaned and felt dirty, touching herself in clear view of this man as she continued to slowly rub herself.

That’s when she saw him raise his phone, pressing buttons on the screen.