The Big Naked Social Experiment Chapters 1-4

I was hoping to update yesterday with a preview of my latest novel but it didn't really get fully published until the end of the day when I was already getting ready to finish up. Basically once a day I check my royalty counter to see if anyone bought anything, and that is when it would also tell me if the stuff that I submitted for publication has finished publishing, and by then the day was basically over, so I figured I would do that today instead.
I'm glad to say it looks like someone has already bought a copy even though it's only been available for less than a day, so it's good to know that I have lots of fans out there, and I hope that you are spreading the word and thank you if you have. I think after writing a really long novel like this on the topic of embarrassing nudity I will probably stick to shorter stories for a while, which means I will probably update more at least.
In the meantime here is a preview of the first four chapters of The Big Naked Social Experiment, which not counting my naked tales, which is really just a collection of short stories and not a proper novel, I think this is so far the longest book I have written on the topic of embarrassing nudity, and I am surprised at how long it turned out being, as I originally thought this would be one of my shorter projects. But since this is a longer one I decided to put a preview of the first four full chapters, also because I think it also lands on a good cliffhanger just before we get into the really interesting stuff ,which will hopefully compel people to want to buy it to find out what happens! So enjoy!
The Big Naked Social Experiment Paperback – June 23, 2023
by Arthur Pemmington (Author)
Four couples, four men and four women, all of whom are socially anxious and sexually inexperienced and very shy around the opposite sex, agreed to volunteer for an experiment that is the premise for a new reality show that will hopefully get them to start feeling more comfortable around the opposite sex and get them over their shyness and inhibitions. Not knowing what the experiment is until they get there they are informed that they will be paired up with a member of the opposite sex to be their roommate for the next year. However there is a caveat that none of them expected, where one of them will have to remain naked while the other gets to stay dressed for the entire year. On top of that some people get to do the choosing of who is going to be naked and who is not and the choosers can't tell their coparticipants in the experiment about this caveat!
When all is said and done it results in three naked men and one naked woman versus three dressed women and one dressed man, who now have to spend the year together experiencing a one-sided nonmutual nudity situation that is supposed to get them over their inhibitions around the opposite sex, but for the naked ones is just an exercise in continual awkwardness and embarrassment that many of them find strangely titillating in spite of themselves, and for the dressed ones perhaps the most fun they have ever had in their entire lives!
Over the course of the year the characters will get to know a lot more about each other being in such close and intimate quarters with one another by having to deal with the constant sexual tension generated by the fact that only one of them gets to wear clothing, as they experience the anticipation of the experiment beginning, then their first day together, their first night together, their first few weeks together, their first meeting with their roommates dressed friends, a trip to comic con to promote their new reality show The Big Naked Social Experiment, and the awkward experience of having to go to their college classes together and the inadvertent celebrity, and with it the consequential unwanted attention that this brings them.
Over the course of the year they will face various triumphs and tragedies together, find how their personalities complement each other but also clash and conflict, and have their comfort zones and inhibitions tested and their horizons expanded if they could just get over the fact that it's extremely embarrassing, and it's all being filmed for a new reality series by the notorious sociologist Dr. Steinem!
Print length
358 pages
Language
English
Publication date
June 23, 2023
Dimensions
6 x 0.81 x 9 inches
ISBN-13
979-8399552088
Product details
    ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C91HLC6G
    Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (June 23, 2023)
    Language ‏ : ‎ English
    Paperback ‏ : ‎ 358 pages
    ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8399552088
    Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
    Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.81 x 9 inches
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C91HLC6G

The Big Naked Social Experiment
1
Dr. Steinem looked over the audience of all of those who had come to apply for the experiment and she saw that it looked like they had a pretty decent sized group as she was suspecting since it was a rather large campus.
    "Well I'm glad to see that there was such a high turnout for this proposed experiment," Dr. Steinem said. "My name is Dr. Gloria Steinem, no relationship to the famous feminist, but I'm kind of glad to share a name with a woman I admire. You are all here because you have decided that you would like to participate in this experiment because you have all indicated from the surveys that you filled out that you are all sexually inexperienced virgins and most of you have not even dated. There should be absolutely no shame in this as there are plenty of people out there in the world and out here on this very campus who are sort of shy and awkward around members of the opposite sex. The social experiment for which you have volunteered is designed to hopefully make you feel more comfortable around the opposite sex, not necessarily in a romantic way, but just in a social way, and once you are comfortable around them socially it won't be as intimidating to feel comfortable in a more intimate way.
    "There will be many benefits for agreeing to this social experiment in which we are trying to destigmatize the opposite sex. Most of you here today have never been in a serious relationship because you have found yourself shy or awkward or just naturally introverted, and all of you who filled out the survey have indicated that you are particularly shy around members of the opposite sex and that it has been detrimental to your social and romantic life. My theory is that if people spent time living with roommates of the opposite sex for a year they wouldn't view the opposite sex as some type of foreign creatures, something mystical. Many people your age of indicated to me that they have a hard time approaching the opposite sex because you are approaching them as though they were almost an entirely different form of life, but this experiment will hopefully teach you that they are just people like you, and that you probably have a lot more in common than you think.
    "The experiment will entail you living together within member of the opposite sex of your choosing in specially reserved homes on our dormitory on campus. Now this won't just be any dormitory but it will be a very special dormitory where all of your needs will be provided for so you don't need to go off campus for anything. In addition to having all of your needs provided for, our generous sponsors will also give you many free products, give you a full scholarship for one year of college credit as well as pay you a regular salary. As most of you have indicated that you are in a state of financial need this experiment will hopefully help you on two levels, one it will provide you with a source of income for the duration of the experiment, and it will provide you with college credit for the experiment, and it will hopefully in the end make you feel a lot more comfortable living with and interacting with members of the opposite sex, and that will hopefully help you to overcome your shyness.
    "For the duration of the experiment you will not be entirely confined to campus but there is a caveat to the experiment that we cannot reveal until after you have made your selection of who you want to spend the year with, after which once you realize the caveat and once they realized the caveat they might not be willing to participate in the experiment, and this caveat might make interaction with the public somewhat tricky. I cannot explain this to you now but just know that for the duration of the year you will be spending most of your time in this special dormitory and your primary social contact will be the member of the opposite sex of your choosing.
    "As I said there is a caveat to this experiment that we cannot reveal to you at this time until after you have made your choices because that would bias the results of the experiment if you knew it when selecting your person. You are probably getting rather anxious about this but you shouldn't worry, many of you will probably find the caveat a bit much to take, but we hope that we will ultimately end up being able to select 4 couples for the experiment. You should not feel rejected if the person you selected does not want to partake in the experiment either before or after learning about the caveat. This experiment is perhaps going to be pushing you outside of your comfort zones, maybe quite significantly, but I think at the end of the year you will be glad to have gone through with it, and that you will be better people for it.
    "You have all been selected because you have passed necessary background checks indicating that you are all law-abiding citizens, good students and of sound mind and body. You should be proud of yourselves as we consider you to be all fine members of this university campus.
    "All of the applications for this experiment have been submitted and you will be the ones to select the member of the opposite sex that you would like to spend the year with. Again do not feel sad if they end up rejecting you or want to get out of the experiment, the main idea is that you should pick somebody that you would like to get to know better, somebody that you think would be easy to get along with considering you are going to be spending a year together. It doesn't necessarily mean in a romantic sense, it should be somebody that you feel that you are compatible with simply as friends. We feel that starting with friendship first is a way that will make everything a lot easier. Now the people you have to select from on the campus are fellow classmates, some of whom you know well, some of whom you know only distantly, but all have agreed to be among those who could be selected. Again you should not feel rejected if they do not want to spend the year with you, particularly after learning of the caveat, which I feel is probably going to cause a lot of you, perhaps or likely a majority, to abandon ship.
    "This is why we have asked you to indicate preferences, to select from a pool of candidates where if one of them decides that they do not want to be your roommate for whatever reason we will then ask you the next person that you have selected and so on and so forth. Again we cannot speak of the caveat which will probably cause a lot of people to want to abandon the experiment, but you should feel no shame in that, as once you realize the caveat you will be realizing that this experiment is probably going to ask a lot of you, really push you far out of your comfort zones, but we assure you that the benefits will be something that you will hopefully cherish for the rest of your life. At the end of this once we have selected the four couples who have mutually agreed to the terms we will inform you if you have been selected for the study, at which point both you and the person you have been paired up with will learn of the caveat and feel free to continue with the experiment or decide that you want to bail out. It will be a bit of a first come first serve I am afraid, whereas the first four couples who mutually agree upon the arrangement, including after learning of the caveat, will be selected for the experiment.
    "Many of you may feel self-conscious about participating in an experiment like this and that is perfectly fine, we expect a lot of you will probably bail, but again there is no judgment, as we would not want to force anything on somebody that we do not feel that they would be comfortable with, but also however the experiment is designed to push you well out of your comfort zones.
    "Once the agreement has been reached you will all sign a nondisclosure agreement where you will not talk to people about the terms of the caveat until after the experiment is over. During the experiment you will be regularly monitored, sort of like a reality TV show, which in fact is the ultimate goal, to create a new reality show out of the experiment. People who have concerns with privacy I can understand how this would be difficult to accept, but again the idea of the experiment is to push you out of your comfort zones. As you are all naturally shy individuals this experiment will be asking a lot of you, so do not feel a personal sense of failure if you are not selected, and just being willing to participate shows that you have great courage. If you have ever seen the show Big Brother you will be under sort of a situation like that. At the end of the experiment we will have some of the videos made into a TV series showing the results of the experiment.
    "I suppose I have talked to you enough right now, because as I explained we can't explain the full extent of the experiment until the couples have been selected, and then only once both have mutually agreed to the experiment will we eventually contact you to know if you have been selected. Right now you should focus on making your selection and put a lot of thought into it. Remember this is a member of the opposite sex that you are going to have to spend the year living with in very close and intimate proximity to one another, so you should pick somebody on compatibility, not just necessarily the ones you find attractive, but somebody that you think you can tolerate being around, somebody that you would think of as a good friend or a close classmate. So now we will let you make your selections and I wish you all luck, and I hope to be seeing at least a few of you when we get around to the experiment. So let's get started!"
    Stephen looked at all of the choices and decided to rank them based on his compatibility or at least what he thought would be the compatibility. There were numerous female classmates in the database that he had known casually around the University that he thought were rather attractive, but they were explicitly told not to base it entirely on looks, he tried to think of who he felt he would be compatible with to be able to tolerate a year with them, and hopefully that she would also agree to spend a year with him.
    As he looked through the database he came across a familiar face. It was Melissa, she was his lab partner in science class, and although they were only fairly casual friends he found her very friendly and personable, and if she agreed to be in the database for the experiment then it meant she was probably equally lonely and awkward, which based on what he knew of her sounded accurate. They had never talked about anything romantic and mostly had talked about nerdy interests they shared in common, but they hadn't talked since the semester had ended. He couldn't deny though that there was a little bit of chemistry between them, no pun intended, seeing as they were partners in chemistry class, and he had to admit that she was rather attractive, in sort of an awkward nerdy kind of way. She was sort of half Asian and had those really attractive features that drove him crazy, even if she had really big nerdy glasses, but something about her glasses were somewhat endearing, and he felt that as a person who wears glasses himself he wouldn't want to make assumptions about somebody just because they wear glasses or count that against them.
    Somehow the glasses rather suited her; she was probably going to be a future scientist one day. She was one of those women who wanted to break the glass ceiling and he thought that she would be rather pleasant to be around. At the end of the day Melissa was his top choice and he would hope that when she realized she had been selected that she wouldn't reject him. Seeing as they had done experiments in science class maybe it would be good for them to do a bigger experiment together.
    Claire started looking at the selections on her list. She had come over here to study abroad from England and she wanted to experience and fully immerse herself in American culture, and she liked the fact that American culture was more diverse than British culture in many ways.
    Claire had to admit to herself that she was a little bit prissy, and the idea of living with a member of the opposite sex made her feel a little bit uncomfortable, but the other thing that made it difficult is that although she was rather prissy about her own body she was kind of a secret perv. She would never admit it to other people but she had to admit that she had a little bit of a porn addiction. She didn't want anybody to know because they might think that she was sort of a trampy woman, whereas outwardly she displayed that British stiff upper lip that made everyone think that she was practically asexual.
    As she scrolled through all of the options she found a man that stopped her in her tracks. It was an African-American man named Dave, and as soon as she saw his chiseled features she couldn't help but think that for a nerd he was pretty ripped. They had taken a couple of classes together and she often caught herself looking at him and having impure thoughts about him, but maybe that would be a reason why she shouldn't pick him, if they had to be together for an entire year in close quarters it might be hard for her to control herself around him or feel comfortable around him. But at the end of the day her perverted mind got the better of her and she couldn't resist the opportunity.
    "If I like black guys that means it's not racist right," Claire said as she made her selection. And as her Internet browser history would show she certainly did like black guys a whole lot.
    Mandy scrolled through her selections and she had to admit that she had her own trepidations about this experiment, as she felt that most guys were secretly creeps, or not so secretly really. Her motives were more towards the benefits of the experiment rather than the social aspects. She liked the idea of getting paid and getting a scholarship and potentially being a reality TV show star. She liked the idea of the prestige of it, but the idea of living in close quarters with some potentially pervy guy was not exactly her ideal idea of paradise, but as she was scrolling through the pictures she came across a guy named Vince.
    "I have to admit he's kind of hot," she said looking at his picture. She didn't want to make a selection on superficial qualities but she had talked to Vince on a couple of occasions in the classes they had together and he seemed like a nice enough guy. She had caught herself glancing in his direction before but she was always kind of shy to talk to him in more than a casual way. But if he had selected himself to be put in this database for this experiment that must mean that he was certainly shy as well, so he probably wouldn't be one of those guys who were all creepy and perverted and grabby. After thinking it over in her head numerous times she ultimately decided to select Vince and hope for the best, she could always back out of the experiment, even though that would be a major loss of prestige. Besides maybe Vince wouldn't even want to be with her.
    Arnold was looking over all of the selections, and he had to admit he was always extremely indecisive until he came across Sophie. He had talked to her quite often and he thought that they actually had a pretty good rapport, she seemed friendly and personable, but it seemed like she was always hanging around with the girls, never really going around with the guys, but that was probably just because she was rather shy, she wouldn't have entered herself into the database if she weren't. In fact he remembered one time when he was talking to her, the first time, she said that it was rather cute that he was blushing, and he had to admit that was a very embarrassing occasion, but at the same time it gave him a warm tingly feeling that probably made him blush even more.
    "I guess I will make my selection, I guess whether or not she decides to go through with it is Sophie's choice," he said as he laughed to himself as he thought that that was a rather funny joke, referencing a movie like that, then again that was a rather depressing Holocaust movie, so maybe he shouldn't be making that kind of joke as that movie did not end very well.
    At the end of the day though everybody had made their selections and once everyone had made their selections Dr. Steinem thanked them all.
    "We will contact you if you are selected and I hope that I will be seeing some of you soon," Dr. Steinem said as everybody piled out of the room and figured that now it was up to the people that they had selected to make the next move.

2
Once everyone had made their selections they largely forgot about the experiment and went on with their lives. Most of them didn't expect to hear back, seeing as they were only going to end up selecting four couples and it was a first-come first-served basis. They all knew that a number of people would probably drop out due to the caveat but since they didn't know what the caveat was they wondered why people would be dropping out over the caveat. Admittedly some of them were thinking about it more than others but then one day they were all called back for the experiment.
    "I guess this must mean we are finalists or something," Stephen said as he sat down with Claire, Mandy and Arnold.
    "I wonder if they are going to tell us what the caveat is now," Claire said. "I don't know about you guys but I've been really wondering what the caveat was. I never thought we would get this far to the finals and everything but now that we are at least we're going to find out what this weird caveat is that seems to be scaring off so many people."
    Mandy shook her head and crossed her arms. "You know I am quite wondering myself what the caveat is. This is such a great opportunity that I certainly don't want to pass it up, but if they are willing to offer us a year's full tuition, housing in a nice house on the campus and a regular pay and yet a large number of people have walked away from that the caveat is probably something really terrible."
    Arnold shook his head. "Look I am sure whatever the caveat is it's probably nothing like what we are thinking of, it is probably more frightening in our imaginations than it is in reality. But you are right if it is going to be some kind of reality TV show I kind of worry that they're gonna make us do something really disgusting or humiliating, like eat bugs or something. But hey for the money that they're offering I could probably eat some bugs!"
    Mandy shook her head. "Guys really are gross; they will do anything for money."
    Arnold laughed. "Are you saying for what they are offering us you wouldn't eat a couple of bugs? If that's the case then perhaps you don't deserve to be on this reality show or part of this study."
    "I kind of like the idea that I am doing something for science and that they will be paying me for it, so it feels like I'm not just being greedy and taking the money and this great offer and everything in just a purely selfish way," Stephen said. "But I'm not going to lie; this is a pretty great opportunity, so I am kind of nervous as to what the caveat is if so many people are willing to turn down a deal this good."
    "Maybe it's something perverted," Claire said sort of rolling her eyes and looking from side to side.
    "You know I have the sickening feeling that maybe she is right about that," Mandy said. "If we are being offered a deal this great it probably is something exploitative or over-the-top or ridiculous that most people would probably never think about doing. But I'll be perfectly honest, I really badly need this money, as I have a lot of debt, I don't come from a wealthy family or anything like that, so getting paid to participate in this experiment whatever it is, unless it's something like cannibalism, I feel like I'm probably going to say yes to it, even if I find it repulsive."
    "I'm pretty sure cannibalism is illegal, but I mean what's wrong with cannibalism, eating people is a good thing," Stephen said laughing. "What, I like some dark humor!"
    As they continued talking and casually wondering what this terrible caveat was, Dr. Steinem was going to the back room as they all watched eagerly wondering what was going to happen, whether she was going to come out dressed as a clown or try to terrify them or something crazy like that.
    "You know whatever this experiment was it was supposed to somehow challenge our perceptions of the opposite sex and make us confront our shyness, but I can't imagine what the caveat could be to that," Arnold said as Dr. Steinem came out of the room and with her were Melissa, Dave, Vince and Sophie, all who seemed to be smiling.
    "Congratulations to all of you, the members of the opposite sex that you all have selected to be your co-participants in this little experiment have all agreed that they would be willing to live with you for the year, so you should all give yourselves a round of applause as just taking this one small step is a sign that you are willing to confront your shyness around the opposite sex," Dr. Steinem said as she began clapping as the eight of them began clapping along with her. "Of course you are probably all wondering about the caveat, and I will have to instruct you on the caveat in private. I suspect that a lot of you may end up hearing the caveat and realizing then that you might chicken out but none of you should feel ashamed, as just the fact that you have made it this far is a sign that you are brave and confronting your shyness, and once again I applaud you all for that. Many have been called up and have rejected their inclusion in the experiment, and we are hoping that we will find some people soon for the experiment who will agree even after learning of the caveat. Given that a lot of you are shy we can understand how the caveat will probably be pushing a lot of you well out of your comfort zones, but then that's pretty much the point. But we were surprised at just how many people have backed out after learning the caveat, and if we don't get a couple of people to agree soon I feel like we might have to select an entire new group. But now I will let you mingle with each other for a little while and I will call you back individually to meet and discuss the caveat with you. I will ask that you not share the caveat with anyone, and we will have you sign a nondisclosure agreement to that effect, as we don't want other potential people who might be willing to participate if you reject it to know of the caveat in advance. But now mingle; the first stage in getting comfortable with one another is to be able to socialize with one another."
    "Hey Steve," Melissa said smiling and adjusting her glasses. Stephen didn't know why but something about her adjusting her glasses like that just seemed really attractive, again in a nerdy awkward way. Maybe just seeing her being all awkward like that made him feel more at ease since they were both coming from a similar standpoint of mutual awkwardness.
    "Hey Melissa," Stephen said as this was the first time he had seen her in a while and wasn't exactly sure what to say.
    "So I'm kind of flattered that you chose me as your potential coparticipant to live with for a year."
    "Well hey I thought that we did have some chemistry," Stephen said as Melissa laughed, and she had a very fiendish little laugh whenever something tickled her funny bone in just the right way.
    "Yeah we had chemistry class together and I don't think I have seen you since the end of that class, so I was a little surprised when I found out I had been selected for this experiment. I have to admit I have never lived with a guy that wasn't related to me by blood before."
    "Yeah me neither, I mean a girl and everything."
    The two of them sort of smiled awkwardly at one another.
    "Well I hope that you'll still want to participate after we learn the caveat," Stephen said.
    "You know we are probably making a big deal about it and it's probably nothing," Melissa said once again adjusting her glasses on her nose.
    "You really think so?"
    "Look I'm sure whatever this big terrible caveat is it couldn't be anything worse than we are imagining. I am sure that living together probably won't be as awkward and intimidating as it sounds."
    "Well hey I mean if you don't want to stay with me after the caveat I certainly won't hold it against you, but I assure you that I am a perfect gentleman."
    Melissa nodded and smiled. "I know, you are one of those few genuinely nice guys that I have met on campus, not some kind of creepy pervert or anything like that, otherwise I never would have agreed to it. It still is a little bit awkward though, but you seemed like a nice guy who would be easy to get along with, so I said yes."
    "Well hey it's not like we are married, we don't have to be in some kind of romantic relationship, it's just two friends and classmates getting to know one another better," Stephen said as he held out his hand and Melissa shook it and smiled.
    "I mean unless that's the caveat, that we are being hooked up like a couple or something like that," Melissa said as they sort of both smiled awkwardly at one another.
    
    "I remember you, Claire right," Dave said as Claire smiled.
    "Yeah we had a couple of classes together and everything, I don't know if you remembered me," Claire said as she had to admit that she was starting to feel a little bit self-conscious towards Dave knowing that he knew that she picked him to be her co-inhabitant for the experiment.
    "I remember your accent, that British accent and everything, there is something about it that's rather cute," Dave said before looking down at his shoes looking as though he were embarrassed to admit that.
    "You like my English accent," Claire said and she knew that she was probably blushing at that point as she didn't want to seem like some type of horny pervert.
    "Yeah I've always kind of wanted to know more about England, I always wanted to travel one day, but of course I can't afford that right now, although who knows if we are selected for this experiment with the money we make from it maybe I could afford some kind of travel."
    "You know that's why I wanted to study abroad, I wanted to see what it was like in America, to see all of the different cultures and everything, the country really is a melting pot." Claire didn't want to say that she had a thing for black guys as she thought that that would sound rather weird or potentially racist, and she didn't want to seem like she was fetishizing him or anything.
    "So do you like it here in the United States?"
    Claire nodded. "It's certainly an experience, and now with this social experience maybe I will learn more about American culture."

    "Well I have to say I'm flattered that you picked me," Vince said as he sat down across from Mandy.
    "Well hey you seemed like a nice guy, and I didn't want to inflate your ego or anything," Mandy said feeling a little bit awkward that this guy knew that she picked him and that he probably knew that she found him attractive. She always felt that there was something about getting the upper hand in any kind of relationship, not that they were in any kind of relationship, but if they were going to be living together she felt the fact that she picked him rather than the other way around implied that she was somehow crazy for him, and she didn't want him to get that idea.
    "Hey I like to think of myself as a humble guy, not some type of macho egomaniac jerk, I am a gentleman," Vince said smiling.
    Mandy nodded. "Well if we are going to be living together for a year you had very well better be. I've got to be upfront with you though Vince, I didn't join this experiment so much because I wanted to overcome my social awkwardness or shyness, it's just this is a really great opportunity, a full year of college being paid in full, along with housing and board and then a salary on top of that."
    "Well hey there's nothing wrong with having some kind of financial motive as well. I'm just kind of flattered that somebody actually picked me, and I wouldn't be part of this experiment I guess if you hadn't selected me. I kind of wonder how the selection process worked, why some people got to be the one selecting and others just had to respond once they were selected and free to accept or reject the offer."
    "Who knows, whatever the reason is I'm sure it has something to do with the experiment itself. Like maybe they are trying to study shyness as to whether it would be affected if you were the one who was selected or the one doing the selecting. Don't worry I'm sure they'll explain it to all of us. I just want to know what this annoying caveat is, but it would have to be pretty bad for me to turn down this opportunity, as I really do need the money if I am fully honest, like very badly."
    "Well like I said hey, I will be a perfect gentleman about it; I am just sort of flattered that you would want me to be your roommate for a year."
    Mandy smiled awkwardly as Vince smiled back.

    "You know I'm glad you selected me Arnold, and I always had to admit that I kind of thought it was cute as I still remember that time you were all blushing and awkward," Sophie said smiling.
    "Wow you still remember that huh," Arnold said.
    Sophie smiled again. "You know I kind of think it's rather cute when a guy is all sort of shy and awkward and stumbling over his words with girls and everything."
    "To be honest Sophie I was never really sure if you were even into guys, as it seemed like you were always hanging around with the girls."
    Sophie smiled again. "I'll be honest Arnold, I can go kind of both ways, but I think that I actually do kind of prefer girls if I'm honest."
    "Nothing wrong with that, although why would you agree to an experiment where you would be spending a year with a roommate of the opposite sex if you were more into girls?"
    "You know I suppose this whole experiment really was rather heteronormative, but then on the other hand the whole idea is to just destigmatize the opposite sex, it's not like we are going to be in a romantic relationship or anything like that, we are just going to be living together, you know like friends."
    "You know Sophie I think that's actually really great and everything, that's one of the reasons why I sort of selected you, I know that we have a real good rapport and everything, and they said not to make our selections based on romantic desires or anything like that, they said to pick somebody that you feel that you would get along with having to live with them for a year, and you always just seemed like a really bubbly and friendly and personable individual. In fact you didn't seem especially shy."
    "Well I am definitely shy, I think that I'm a little less shy about girls, you know because we are sort of the same, if that makes sense."
    "Yes Sophie, that actually makes perfect sense, I think that's true of everyone and that's probably the whole idea behind this experiment. It's probably just the whole idea is that you want to have some type of roommate situation, that if you get to know the opposite sex as friends it won't really be all that weird to be around them anymore."
    "Exactly, we're just two friends who will be living together, and what can I say other than I am pretty flattered that you chose me for this experiment. I do kind of wonder why some people got to be selected and other people got to be the selectors, but again I'm flattered because I don't think that I would ever have an opportunity like this if you hadn't selected me, so I look forward to living together."
    "But what about the caveat?"
    "Well since we don't know what the caveat is yet I guess we can't really say can we, but hey how weird could it be?"

    "Well everybody I'm glad to see that you seem to be comfortable mingling with each other, this is a very good sign, as it does seem like you all have chemistry together," Dr. Steinem said as Melissa sort of looked at Stephen and giggled since she used that phrase about having chemistry. She kind of liked dorky jokes like that. "And now that you have gotten to know each other a little bit better and seem to be comfortable with the possibility of living together I guess now we are finally going to answer the question that you have all been asking yourselves all of this time, as to just what is the caveat?"
    Stephen raised his hand.
    "Yes," Dr. Steinem said.
    "So what is the caveat?"
    Dr. Steinem laughed and smiled. "You are about to all find out!"
    As all of them looked at Dr. Steinem with a big smile on her face and potentially fiendish laughter they started looking at each other awkwardly as Dr. Steinem continued nodding and smiling, and for some reason, and they didn't know exactly why, but all of them seemed to be on the same page about that as they all started to suddenly get very very nervous.
    "So who will be first?" Dr. Steinem said and the smirk never left her face.

3
"I would definitely like to know the caveat," Stephen said as everybody else started nodding in agreement all looking anxiously at one another and wondering why Dr. Steinem was smirking so much.
    Dr. Steinem nodded. "For reasons that I must keep to myself I will explain the caveat to one group at a time, and then after I have discussed things with those particular individuals then the other group of you will learn about the caveat. There is actually a good reason for this but again it is part of the experiment that you must be told of the caveat separately. So will Stephen, Claire, Vince and Sophie all please come with me? The rest of you don't worry, once we have discussed the caveat with these four we will then discuss it with you."
    The four of them followed Dr. Steinem down a hallway and into a small room at a table with four chairs. Once everybody was seated Dr. Steinem smiled.
    "I guess this is probably what you have all been wondering about most, the caveat about this little experiment, but first I have to ask that you all sign a nondisclosure agreement where as part of the experiment you agree not to discuss anything that I tell you here today, including with and especially with your co-participants in the experiment." Dr. Steinem began handing them all folders that they were made to sign agreeing that they wouldn't tell anybody about anything that went on in this particular room, including their co-participants in the experiment.
    "So what's the caveat," Vince finally said as he looked nervously at the others who likewise seemed rather nervous and were licking their lips to that effect.
    Dr. Steinem nodded. "You are probably wondering first off why I am calling you in groups of four and why I called you four in particular first. I overheard some of you talking amongst yourselves where you were wondering why some of you got to be the ones who selected the person and the other person simply had the decision to decide whether they would accept the person that chose them. There is a very important reason for that."
    "But I think that Claire and I were the ones who got to choose, Vince and Sophie were simply chosen," Stephen said as everybody nodded in agreement. "Shouldn't you be taking all of the people who got to choose and those who just got chosen separately?"
    Dr. Steinem shook her head. "No, because as you will learn in a minute there are very specific reasons why we have chosen this set up. Two of you were able to choose and select who you wanted to stay with whereas the other two of you simply had to accept being chosen or not, and there is a specific reason for that. In this group we have one guy who selected the woman that he wanted to be his coparticipant in the experiment."
    "I guess that's me," Stephen said pointing to himself as she nodded.
    "And we had one guy who was chosen," she said as she looked at Vince.
    "I guess I'm just irresistible," Vince said as everybody began laughing nervously.
    "Likewise we had one woman who selected her guy and one woman who was selected," Dr. Steinem said as Claire and Sophie raised their hands. "So now we have two groups here, one male selector and one female selector, and one female selectee and one male selectee, and this was important as it will apply to the caveat. This is an experiment where you will confront your awkwardness with the opposite sex by living with them for a year, but the four of you are going to be able to choose the circumstances of your living conditions, whereas the others will have to simply accept them or reject being part of the experiment once they learn of those conditions. It's sort of a reversal, where we have one male selector who gets to select the conditions for his female selectee, one female selector who gets to select the conditions of her male selectee, one female selectee who will get to select the conditions for her male selector, and one male selectee who gets to choose the conditions of his female selector. So as you can see two of the selectors get to decide the condition of the selectee, whereas two of the selectees get to decide the condition of the one who selected them. These are important differences as that was the way this experiment was designed."
    "Oh my God just tell us the caveat already," Vince said as all of the others nodded in agreement.
    Dr. Steinem smiled again. "Well I can see that you are all very eager to learn this caveat, and I will leave you hanging no longer. Now that we have established why your groups were selected as you were, with half of this group made up of selectors and half made up of selectees, I will tell you the decision that you will be making for your co-participants in this experiment which they will then be free to accept or reject. Once again I will congratulate you for making it this far, and if your co-participants decide to not participate in the experiment you shouldn't take it as a sign of personal rejection because once you realize what the caveat is you are going to realize that it's going to be a very difficult thing to accept, it's going to require you to make a difficult decision, some may say a moral decision, which for people who are shy and inexperienced as yourselves will be especially difficult."
    "You know you're not quite making this sound that appealing," Claire said and from the look she was receiving from the others it seemed that they were agreeing with her.
    Dr. Steinem smiled. "You know in a lot of ways you are both the lucky ones and the unlucky ones. You are going to be the ones who have to make the decision and the other will just have to deal with it one way or another and can only choose to accept or reject them. However they will be free from having to impose the conditions on their fellow co-participants, so perhaps theirs is the easier decision from a moral standpoint. All they have to do is accept or reject, the four of you however will be the ones who pretty much decide to set the conditions."
    "You're not going to make us eat bugs are you," Sophie said as everyone began laughing.
    "No, nothing quite as crazy as that," Dr. Steinem said as the four of them seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "No, you will be selecting which one of you will be naked for the duration of the experiment."
    "Say what," Vince said. "Did you just say –"
    "N-naked," Claire said looking both nervous and suddenly as though she was electrified. "I knew it must be something perverted!"
    Dr. Steinem shook her head. "No, you must wait for me to finish explaining, as I assure you that this is not a perverted experiment, but it will nonetheless be a very difficult decision for you to make, and for people as shy as yourselves I am sure a very awkward decision to make. There is a good chance that like the ones before you that you will decide that you will not want to participate in the experiment altogether, even though it means walking away from a year's tuition and college credit, room and board and a pretty nice salary on top of that."
    "So wait, you are saying that one of us is going to be getting naked?" Vince said. "Which one of us is going to be naked?"
    Dr. Steinem smiled. "Well I was just about to explain that. I guess you would say that this is sort of the root of the experiment, or at least the groundwork anyway, you're ultimately going to see how the results play out once you have made your decision, but the decision you make is going to influence the entire course of the experiment. When you hear the caveat you are going to realize that the caveat is perhaps a little bit unfair, but that is sort of the point, as it requires you to make a difficult decision."
    "You know I think that if we make our roommates be naked they're probably going to think that we are perverts," Claire said partially biting her tongue because deep down she knew that it was actually true that she was a pervert!
    Dr. Steinem raised her finger. "Actually part of the caveat deals with that, so now I will explain that to you finally if there are no further interruptions." She looked over them as they all sort of nodded nervously, all of them looking even more awkward than usual. "Here is the caveat, you each will have to decide which one of you is going to be naked for the duration of the experiment, and however here is the actual root of the caveat. If you selected them we will inform them that you selected them to be the one naked, so they will have full knowledge that you were the one who decided to put them in that condition. If however you choose yourself we will tell them that you were selected at random."
    "So wait, you are saying if we choose ourselves they will think that it was randomly selected, but if we choose them you are going to let us know that we wanted them to get naked for us," Stephen said. "I don't think I could do that to Melissa, she'll think I'm some kind of creepy pervert!"
    All of the others began nodding in agreement.
    Dr. Steinem nodded. "Maybe they won't, maybe they would admire your honesty, maybe they would be flattered that you wanted to see them like that, but that is why the decision is difficult. Of course you could choose yourself, then they will never know that you chose yourselves to be the one to be naked, they will just think that it was the luck of the draw and they don't have to feel bad about it and neither do you."
    "So that's our decision, either we choose them to be naked and they will think that we are perverts or we will have to spend the entire year being naked around them," Claire said as she looked shocked as did everybody else who seemed to be nodding in agreement with her once again.
    Dr. Steinem smiled. "It's not an easy decision is it, which is why I will give you some time now to make your decision, and when you have all made your decisions we will then bring the others in and let them know what the conditions were and they will be free to either accept the conditions or back out of the experiment. Of course you could all back out of the experiment as well, if that is what you decide, and there will be no judgment one way or another. But remember no matter what you choose you have signed an agreement that said that you will not mention this to any of your co-participants, you will not talk of any aspects of the caveat because it is important they don't know these details as there will also be things they will know they can't tell you. If you go against these terms you will be kicked out for violating the integrity of the experiment and get nothing. Well anyway talk among yourselves and make your decisions. But remember at the end of the day it's an individual decision that you're going to have to live with for the rest of the year, so it's probably better that you not let peer pressure influence you. So now I will give you as much time as you need to make this difficult and awkward choice."
    As soon as Dr. Steinem left the room and closed the door behind her they all started looking at each other.
    "Well I can kind of see why so many people have decided that they are not going to go through with this," Stephen said. "I mean do they honestly expect us to make that decision. Honestly how could I face Melissa every day for a year with her knowing that I'm some kind of creepy pervert who wanted to see her naked." Although he had to admit at that moment he was thinking exactly what she would look like naked and getting excited at the prospect.
    "Well then you could always be the naked one," Claire said as she began laughing and smirking having a hard time containing herself.
    "Isn't that also kind of creepy and perverted?" Stephen asked.
    Claire shook her head and smirked. "No, because you don't get to see anything, she does, so that makes her the perv."
    "So then are you going to be the naked one or the perv?" Sophie said looking at her.
    "This isn't funny you guys, this is a really difficult decision," Stephen said. "I mean I don't want to humiliate Melissa but, well I've never been seen naked by, well you know a woman before." Stephen began blushing as Sophie started smiling. "Why are you smiling?"
    Sophie shook her head. "No it's just it's cute when a guy blushes like that, as you are clearly uncomfortable. But hey don't be, we are all in the same boat here, we are all inexperienced with the opposite sex. I haven't been seen naked by a guy and the thought of it is rather difficult to take."
    Vince shook his head. "You know that Mandy girl; she seemed a little bit like the kind of type who would not appreciate me getting her naked. Although on the other hand she did technically pick me and even if it weren't for this weird caveat thing I am sure that living in close quarters, well I mean at some point we would probably encounter each other naked wouldn't we?"
    "Not if you're a gentleman," Sophie said.
    "Hey I'm a gentleman, I didn't know that this was going to be part of the project when I volunteered," Vince said shaking his head. "I mean none of us did, this was just sort of dropped right into our lap. Let's look at this from a purely neutral objective standpoint. We all want to get the college credit and the tuition and the room and board and the money, let's not deny that, there is a strong financial incentive for this experiment. And while I don't think that Mandy would appreciate me getting her naked, she also said she was doing it mostly for the money, and she did pick me…"
    "So that justifies you being a pervert about it?" Sophie asked.
    "So are you going to pick yourself to be the naked one," Vince said as he looked at Sophie who began blushing. "Look no matter what we decide one way or another the whole situation is unfair, and one way or another there is something kind of perverted about it, and I'm not going to lie, I consider myself a gentleman but –"
    "FYI if you have to add a but –" Sophie began saying.
    "So what because I am a guy I am supposed to be the gentleman and be buck naked for a year," Vince said. "How come it is perverted for a guy to want to see a woman naked but not the other way around?"
    "Well I mean let's not have a double standard here," Claire said. "Like if I selected Dave to be the naked one, well does that make me a pervert? Is it somehow wrong for the woman to want to see the naked guy? Are women supposed to not have normal sexual needs and desires as well?"
    Claire felt that maybe she was trying to justify that to herself as much as to the others, because at that very moment she was picturing Dave stripping down naked and getting all hot and bothered at the thought.
    "You know I guess there is sort of a double standard," Stephen said. "Somehow if a girl looks at a guy naked like that it's something innocent or empowering, yet if somehow a guy wants to see a naked woman that automatically makes him perverted and a creep. I mean I genuinely do consider myself to be a gentleman and feminist ally, I'm always polite to women and don't want to make anybody feel uncomfortable, especially not someone like Melissa. God I couldn't imagine what she would think of me if I did something like that to her."
    "So does that mean you're going to decide to be the naked one," Claire said looking at him and smirking and making him feel really awkward as he sort of slumped down in his seat.
    "Well wouldn't it be kind of creepy and perverted if I chose myself as well, to be naked around this shy innocent girl," Stephen said.
    Claire shook her head. "Hey we're not as innocent as you think; I mean I certainly don't think that I'm innocent. I may be inexperienced with guys in real life and everything, but you know I have desires and stuff too, women aren't these dainty little creatures who need to be shielded from anything, shall we say, less than wholesome."
    As they all looked at Claire now she started blushing because she was making it kind of obvious that she was trying to defend female perversion.
    "But if we choose ourselves the other person won't know that we chose ourselves," Sophie said. "I guess that's sort of the whole idea, the conundrum, if we choose to do the nice thing and accept the burden of nudity on ourselves we are relieved of the burden of anyone thinking that we are creepy perverts, but if we put the burden on them then we have the dilemma of knowing that we put them in that situation and feeling like perverts."
    "I'm starting to realize why so many people have backed out of the experiment, I mean I don't think there would be much judgment if we backed out would there," Stephen said. "Because come on now we are all shy here, to go from completely inexperienced with the opposite sex to spending a year with them completely buck naked, I mean I think that's a bit much!"
    Vince shook his head. "You know I think that there is a little bit too much moralizing going on here. Now maybe it's going to make me sound like the chauvinist or the pervert or whatever you want to call me, but the way I see it Mandy picked me for this experiment, she's doing it mostly for the money, and the fact that she chose me the fact that I now get to choose the circumstances of the experiment seems kind of fair."
    "Is that how you justify it to yourself?" Sophie asked.
    Vince shook his head. "Look unless you are going to choose yourself to be the naked one I don't feel that you have any right to judge me for my choice. Or you could just back out, which I guess would be sort of the cowardly way out of it, but you know I'm not going to be ashamed about it. I'm not going to be a creepy pervert about it but the way I see it the decision is mine, I want the money and all of the benefits, so I think I'm going to go through with it."
    "Yeah but do you think that Mandy will accept your decision, remember she can basically reject the offer and back out of the experiment, so that's maybe another thing to take into consideration," Stephen said. "Remember whatever decision we make they can choose to reject it."
    Vince nodded. "You know that's a good point, but I have been talking with Mandy and she seems to want this money and need this money more than anyone else, and she even said unless it was something short of cannibalism she's probably going to take it."
    Sophie shook her head. "It sounds like you're taking advantage of the situation; you really are a male chauvinist pig."
    "Well since you said that you prefer girls anyway I guess that means that you don't care about seeing Arnold naked," Vince said. "So you might as well pick yourself to be the naked one and prove that you're not a pervert."
    "Yeah but then he would get to see me naked, naked every day for a year," Sophie said once again blushing and feeling really uncomfortable.
    "You know what I think I'm going to take a feminist stand here," Claire said standing up. "There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to see a naked guy!"
    Vince smirked. "Which is a fancy way of saying you're a perv just like we are. Why don't we just admit that, man, woman, it doesn't matter, we have normal heterosexual desires here. I don't feel ashamed about getting Mandy naked, and nobody else here should feel ashamed about pursuing their own desires and choosing what some may say is the selfish choice. Because you know what they are always free to reject it, it's not like anybody is forcing them to spend the year naked with us, they can choose to reject it if they want, and that would be the end of that."
    "You know I hate to agree but I think that he kind of has a good point," Claire said as she started getting a tingling feeling down below as she pictured seeing Dave naked every day for a year.
    Sophie sort of blushed and cringed. "I'm really not a pervert, I'm honestly not, it's just I'm very very self-conscious about my body, let's face it we all are, that's a big part of the reason why we were selected for this crazy experiment anyway."
    Vince shook his head. "Well however you justify it to yourself; you're the one who has to live with your decision. I just know that I have made my decision and if I am a pervert for choosing selfishly then you are all no different for doing likewise, so don't moralize to me about it."
    "I just really really don't want to get naked, that is a very vulnerable position for a woman to be," Sophie said looking as though she were wracked with guilt. "I'm not a pervert, I'm just very self-conscious. That's something you guys don't understand, you don't understand what a big deal it is for a woman to get naked, women are supposed to be more modest, it is a very vulnerable thing for a woman to be naked around a dressed guy."
    As Stephen heard that suddenly an image came into his mind of Melissa slipping out of her clothing struggling to cover up and looking as though she were about to cry. He pictured her screaming and calling him a pervert and slapping him across the face.
    "Well I'm a pervert," Claire said as she sort of raised her hand and began smirking and looking embarrassed to admit it.
    "And you know what so am I, there is nothing to be ashamed about," Vince said as he patted Claire on the back and smiled fiendishly.
    "I'm not a pervert, I am just really really self-conscious, it's a matter of personal safety and comfort," Sophie said slumping down in her seat. "I'm sure that Arnold will understand, we have a good rapport and everything, and he's a nice guy."
    The three of them looked at Stephen who looked more nervous and awkward than anybody as he looked over at Sophie who was still blushing profusely.
    "So buddy what's it going to be, are you going to be a real man and take what you want," Vince said with an evil smirk.
    Stephen looked at Sophie with a glare and shook his head. "Dammit Sophie why did you have to give that little speech," he said as he put his face down on the table with his hands outstretched before looking up. "Dammit I'm a gentleman, I'm a nice guy!"
    Vince laughed as Claire smiled awkwardly. "Well I guess we can tell Dr. Steinem we have made our decision, looks like it's three perverts and a gentleman then."
    As Vince and Claire got up to go get Dr. Steinem Sophie patted Stephen on the back.
    "You're a lot braver than I am," she said shaking her head and laughing as Stephen simply shook his head and wondered what the hell he had just gotten himself into.

4
As Dr. Steinem walked back into the room with Stephen, Vince, Claire and Sophie, the others in the room all looked up at them and could see that they all looked like they were a little bit awkward and uncomfortable.
    "Hey Steve how was it," Melissa said coming up to him smiling as all of the sudden he froze in his tracks. "Is something the matter? You look almost like you saw a ghost or something. I'm just dying to know what this caveat is; I hope it is nothing too terrible."
    Steve took a deep breath. "Well Melissa I guess you are about to find out and everything, part of the experiment is I cannot tell you about the caveat."
    "You didn't back out of the experiment or anything did you?" she said as she adjusted her glasses in that really attractive way that for some reason drove him crazy and made him start feeling self-conscious, and he was about to start blushing.
    "Well everybody I have told Stephen, Vince, Claire and Sophie about the caveat and you'll be happy to know that after hearing of the caveat they have all decided that they want to stay in and be part of the experiment, so let's give them a round of applause," Dr. Steinem said as Melissa, Mandy, Arnold and Dave all began clapping. "And now I guess you all want to know what the caveat is, so if the four of you will come with me and we will discuss the further parameters of the experiment, and hopefully after hearing the caveat and the parameters of the experiment that you will still want to participate."
    "Good luck," Stephen said as he waved to Melissa who waved back to him once again adjusting her glasses and smiling as he suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach and had to sit down.
    As he could see Melissa walking away with the others all bubbly and chatting and casual, he had no idea how she was going to respond to the idea of the experiment, and he hated to admit it but he felt like he should have just backed out of the experiment then and there. What the hell was he thinking, spending an entire year naked with Melissa while she gets to keep her clothing on?
    "I hope they don't think that we are all perverts," Claire said as she sat down with the others while they waited for the rest of the four to see if they were going to come back and accept or reject the experiment.
    "Let them, there's nothing wrong with being a pervert," Vince said.
    "I'm not a pervert, I'm just very self-conscious," Sophie said folding her arms defiantly. "Actually if we are fully honest the only one here who actually was a gentleman was Steve."
    "And look at him, he is shaking his leg like crazy, I've never seen someone more nervous," Vince said as he shook his head. "Seriously dude I can't picture how you could possibly have turned down the possibility of getting to see Melissa naked for a year, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing her! You let a guilty conscience over feminist double standards rob you of the opportunity of a lifetime."
    Stephen had to admit he felt a little bit like a hypocrite because even at that moment he was picturing what Melissa looked like naked and trying to control himself from getting excited but he couldn't stop shaking his leg.
    "Well you know she could reject the experiment, they all could," Stephen said and for a moment he was sort of secretly hoping that would be the case. As much as he could use the money and the college credit and everything else that came with the experiment, his nervousness was growing by the moment, and somehow how if it was Melissa who rejected it that somehow made it better. Sure she was a really nice and kind girl; she's probably not some kind of pervert who would want to spend an entire year with some naked guy who was her chemistry partner at one point.
    "Well I certainly bloody well hope not," Claire said as they all looked at her and she once again looked rather awkward. "What, don't look at me like that!"
    "You know Steve is right, we have no idea that these people are not going to reject us all as filthy perverts," Sophie said. "We may be casual friends but they are shy like we are, and we are just imposing something extremely embarrassing on them, and I have to admit that the thought of them being naked around us for kind of the year is sort of an awkward thing as well, I mean they're all going to know that we chose them to be naked for us, it's going to be hard for them not to judge us for that, well except for Steve, I feel like he was probably the only one who made the right decision."
    "Yeah and look at him, he's practically hyperventilating, I can't think of a more obvious case of buyer’s remorse," Vince said shaking his head. "But you know what I think that they are probably going to accept it. I don't think that Mandy's going to be happy with it, but I know that she needs the money. And Arnold and Dave, they may be shy but I think that every guy is secretly an exhibitionist at heart."
    "Well if that's the case then why didn't you choose you to be naked instead of Mandy?" Sophie said putting her hands defiantly on her hips.
    "Because every single guy before they are an exhibitionist is a voyeur first and foremost," Vince said. "But guys I think have thicker skin."
    Sophie shook her head. "Like I said if you had the thicker skin you would have chosen yourself to be naked not her, the only person who didn't choose the selfish option was Steve."
    "Yeah and that's why he's hyperventilating now," Vince said shaking his head. "He knows he regrets his choice, his body betrays his insincerity."
    "You know I'm probably panicking prematurely, Melissa is a really nice girl and everything, she'll probably hear this experiment and think it's just awful and reject it, and it will be kind of awkward to deal with afterwards, but it would be a lot less awkward than spending a year together, well you know," Steve said slumping down in his seat and continuing to shake his leg.
    "I guess all we can do now is wait," Claire said as they all looked nervously at each other and off into the distance.

    "Okay everybody please take a seat," Dr. Steinem said. "You are now going to learn the parameters of the experiment as selected by your co-participants in the study. You are probably wondering what the caveat is, and you're probably going to be a little bit shocked when you hear this, but I guess I should just come right out with it. The caveat of this experiment, should you choose to accept it, is that for the duration of the study during the year you will be living together is that one of you will have to spend the entire year naked."
    "Naked," they all said simultaneously staring forward and looking at each other in shock.
    "This is like a joke right," Arnold said.
    Dr. Steinem shook her head. "No it is no joke, for the entire duration of the experiment one of you will not be allowed to wear clothing for the entire year."
    "You expect us to be completely buck naked for an entire year," Mandy said shaking her head and making a look of disgust. "I knew it would probably be something perverted, I just knew it!"
    "An entire year naked," Melissa said slinking down in her seat and looking incredibly uncomfortable, like she was practically ready to die of embarrassment. "But I've never been seen naked by a guy before."
    "Well that is part of the experiment, in order to get you to confront your shyness around the opposite sex you will have to get used to them being naked around you or vice versa," Dr. Steinem said.
    "Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute," Mandy said as she stood up defiantly. "Are you saying that only one of us is going to be naked, that's totally unfair?!"
    Dr. Steinem nodded. "Yes that is part of the experiment, and I can't explain more about that aspect or the why behind it."
    Melissa sheepishly raised her hand as Dr. Steinem nodded in her direction. "Which one of us is going to have to get naked?"
    "Yeah," all of the others said as they nodded in agreement.
    "Well that was very interesting about this," Dr. Steinem said as she smiled. "But we selected it entirely at random. You were all randomly put into the database and a random number generator decided which one of you would end up being naked, and now I will reveal to you which of you is going to be naked. I am now going to hand all of you a card with your assignment and you can choose to accept to continue participating in the experiment or to leave the experiment, there will be no judgment either way, and you should all give yourself a round of applause just for coming this far."
    Dr. Steinem handed them all their folders at which point they had to sign a nondisclosure agreement that they wouldn't talk about anything that took place in this office and then she gave them all their assignments.
    "I'm naked," Arnold said as he began blushing and looking very nervous.
    "Crap, I'm naked as well," Dave said looking disappointed as he shook his head.
    "Oh Jesus Christ I can't believe this, are you serious," Mandy said curling her lip. "You mean I have to spend an entire year completely naked around that Vince guy!"
    "Again you can feel free to walk away from the experiment with no judgment, but you will be walking away from a year's free tuition, room and board, college credit and a regular salary," Dr. Steinem said.
    "I can't fucking believe this," Mandy said looking infuriated. "What about you Melissa, what did you get?"
    Melissa's hand was shaking as she held her envelope and shook her head. "I'm too nervous, you open it."
    "Dressed," Mandy said as she took the envelope from Melissa, opened it and then slammed Melissa's card assignment down on the table. "I can't believe this, am I the only one of the women who has to get naked? This is sexist!"
    "Hey three guys have to get naked versus only one woman, if anything it is sexist against us," Dave said shaking his head and looking annoyed.
    "But I can't believe it, I am dressed, I'm dressed," Melissa said as she breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair in a really relaxed manner as she adjusted her glasses and suddenly began blushing.
    "What are you blushing about, you get to stay dressed," Mandy said looking annoyed and glaring at Melissa.
    "So that means that Steve is going to be the one who has to get naked," Melissa said as she was fighting not to smirk. She had never thought of Stephen in that way before but suddenly the thought of that was making her feel a little bit flush.
    "Once again you are all perfectly free to walk away from the experiment, we can't make you do anything that you wouldn't want to do, and I realize that for most of you this will be pushing your limits and pushing you way out of your comfort zones, but that is the purpose of the experiment," Dr. Steinem said.
    "I can't believe that, this is crazy, this is your idea of an experiment, this is just like some kind of perverted thing just like I thought it would be," Mandy said as she continued folding her arms and shaking her head.
    "So are you saying that you would like to drop out of the experiment?" Dr. Steinem said.
    "This is so unfair against people who need that money," Mandy said.
    "Nobody is forcing you to stay, it is your decision," Dr. Steinem said. "I will give you a few minutes to talk it over."
    "No I guess I will do it, but I feel that you are somehow taking advantage of the financially disadvantaged to conduct this perverted little experiment," Mandy said. "This is so unfair, and the others don't even have to get naked, what bullshit!"
    Dr. Steinem shook her head. "I assure you it was selected entirely randomly, so it was purely a matter of the luck of the draw."
    "Are we really going to do this," Dave said looking at Arnold.
    "You know I need the money and the credit, so I guess so," Arnold said. "So my answer is yes."
    "I guess I am a yes as well," Dave said.
    "Fuck," Mandy said. "I guess I'll stay as I don't really have much of a choice."
    As Mandy, Dave and Arnold sat there looking annoyed and shaking their heads at one another all attention suddenly focused on Melissa.
    "Well it looks like we only have one more person holding out," Dr. Steinem said.
    Melissa looked at her card once again, smiled and looked up at Dr. Steinem with disbelief. "So basically by agreeing to this I spend an entire year alone in a house with a guy who is completely buck naked and I get to keep my clothing on, and I will be getting paid for it? I don't have to get naked at all and you are basically paying me to have a naked guy around me as my roommate for a whole year?"
    "Well someone got the luck of the draw," Mandy said shaking her head and looking away angrily from Melissa.
    Melissa couldn't help but smirk now and smiled her fiendish little smile and nodded. "Hell yeah I'll do it!"
    The other three looked at Melissa who seemed to be grinning ear to ear, which was surprising to them because she had always been the the quietest and most withdrawn of all of them, but now it seemed like she was practically walking on air and glowing.
    "Well it's settled then, let's go inform your partners for the year," Dr. Steinem said as she stood up and walked towards the door.
    "Pervert," Arnold, Dave and Mandy said glaring angrily at Melissa who blushed slightly as she adjusted her glasses but continued smiling.
    As Arnold, Dave and Mandy followed Dr. Steinem out Melissa hesitated for a moment until everyone was out of the room as she did a little victory dance.
    "Well well well, I guess this will be a very interesting science project, certainly a lot more interesting than the ones we have done together previously, and I guess now we will see if we really do have chemistry," Melissa said laughing before the others came back into the room and she smiled and walked out with them.

    "Good news everybody, you have all agreed to the experiment, give yourselves a round of applause," Dr. Steinem said as she walked out with the four others. "And remember you are not to talk about anything that happened behind the closed doors when you were separated, not about the caveat or how this was set up, remember your roles in the experiment were all chosen entirely at random, completely random I remind you, to anything said to the contrary." She looked over at the group who chose who would be naked as she said that for emphasis.
    Vince, Claire and Sophie all started clapping and looking awkwardly across the room at Mandy, Dave and Arnold, who were standing there looking more awkward and uncomfortable and looking down at their feet, and Melissa who seemed to be practically beaming as she walked over to Stephen.
    "Well it looks like we are going to be science partners again, put er there pal," Melissa said as she shook Stephen's hand right before he fell backwards into his chair and fainted. "Was it something I said?"