Vestiphobia

Chapter One: Uncomfortable

Sitting in the back of the lecture hall, Lisa pulled at her top and fanned herself. It was suddenly very hot, and she felt cramped, suffocated. She'd been feeling vaguely uncomfortable all day, and now her discomfort had become acute. It was as if a giant hand was squeezing her, pushing out the air in her lungs. And it was so hot!

She glanced at the other students. None of them seemed uncomfortable, just bored. And no-one else was reacting to the unbearable heat—many of the students seemed happy in their jackets and sweaters and long pants. The lecturer at the front wore a suit jacket and his brows betrayed no trace of sweat. Meanwhile, Lisa had removed her sweater at the start of the class and just gotten hotter from there.

A bead of sweat dripped from her nose and splashed on the desk. She took slow breaths, in and out, and filled her minds with thoughts of snow and cold winter days.

The lecturer's droning voice had stopped and everyone around Lisa was rising to their feet. She'd been so absorbed in her discomfort that she hadn't heard a word of the lecture, or even noticed when it ended. Relieved, she pushed her chair out, grabbed her green sweater and satchel and speed-walked to the exit door. What was wrong with her? Did she have a fever? She should see the nurse.

The soft breeze outside made Lisa feel a bit cooler, but now the constricted feeling returned with a vengeance. She was being squeezed and felt like she might burst. Bile rose to her throat. No time to get to the nurse's office—she had to find a bathroom. Now.

Fortunately, there was a ladies room off the narrow hallway in front of the lecture hall. She went back inside the building, and rushed into the thankfully deserted bathroom.

Lisa splashed some water on her face at the sink and looked up at herself in the mirror. Her dripping face was red and her dirty blonde curls were in disarray. There was panic in her light blue eyes. She tried to take more deep breaths, but her throat just made horrible choking sounds. She couldn't breathe!

Lisa grabbed at her top, forcefully shaking the fabric to generate a momentary air flow. The brief sense of relief from doing this told her that it was her clothes that were the problem. She was suffocating under all this fabric. It had to come off.

Glancing worriedly at the entrance to the bathroom, Lisa retreated into a stall and swung the latch closed. She dumped her sweater and book-bag on the floor behind the toiler. After making very certain that the stall door was locked tight, she began to disrobe.

First came her sleeveless black top, up and over her head and on top of the sweater. That felt better. Sweat glistened on her flat stomach and the tops of her round, firm breasts. She breathed in and out but still felt constricted. The bra had to go.

She unhooked her black bra and dumped it on top of her shirt. The next few breaths felt even better. But still, there was a tightness. Her feet were hot and cramped inside her black boots, so she loosened their laces and stepped out of them, pulling off her socks for good measure. She sat on the toilet seat, wiggling her toes in relief.

Lisa's legs felt as though they were gripped by a vice. She had to go all the way. Sighing, she unclipped her belt and pulled her tight white jeans down, catching her panties in her fingers. She kicked them off and winced as the belt buckle glanced off the stall door. Then she breathed. In and out. In and out.

The heat was gone and so was the suffocating feeling. Sweat glistened across her long, slim body. She placed the back of her hand against her forehead. It was cool. Lisa felt normal again. Well, apart from the sensation of sitting in a public bathroom stall totally naked. That was anything but normal.

A knock on the stall door made Lisa almost jump out of her skin. "You okay in there?" asked an unfamiliar woman's voice.

"Y-yes," Lisa squeaked, drawing her arms over her breasts as though the knocker might be able to see through the floor-length stall door. "Just fine."