If she hadn't known Valerie was right behind her, Matti would have stopped short of the dorm's elevator, turned around, and went back to her room to bury her face and hide, or, at the very least change her clothes. Even as the idea hit her, however, she thought of another issue with it, and was shocked it hadn't occurred to her before now. It really should have, but this morning clearly had gotten her even more flustered than she'd realized.
She turned around after all, almost running down the hall towards her, before remembering that, while the hall was empty now, one of their hallmates could open their door at any time and see her. Her Pull-Ups might be hidden under her skirt now, and if she walked at a normal pace, but if she moved too quickly, they wouldn't be. She didn't want to risk having anyone running into her in the stairs, either, and looking up to get a glimpse, which was why she'd been planning to use the elevator, despite how old and creaky it was, to the point where it seemed inevitable that it was going to get stuck one of these days.
"Valerie!" she hissed, stepping back to catch the cheerleader as she stepped out of their room. "You forgot to give me my key!"
It was ridiculous that she didn't have one of her own to keep, but that was yet another way for Valerie to exert her complete control over her. Usually, Valerie was good about giving it to her before she left for the day, or putting it on Matti's desk for her if she had an early class and Matti wasn't awake yet, but in all the excitement, apparently it had slipped her mind, too.
"No, I didn't," Valerie told her, smugly pulling the automatically locking door shut. "I want to make sure you don't get any bright ideas, so I'm going to hold onto it until after cheerleading practice today. You have everything you need for the day, don't you?"
Matti whimpered, glancing down at her messenger bag. She did have all her textbooks, and her laptop, in there, but if she'd known this was Valerie's plan, she might have snuck in an extra Pull-Up, just in case, or a pair of shorts, or something. "I'll take that as a yes," Valerie snickered, taking Matti by the hand. "Now, come on, let's go!"
She pulled Matti past the elevator, to the stairs. "Valerie!" Matti whined. "Wh-What if somebody is coming up?"
"Then I'll be sure to make lots of noise, so they look up and get a perfect view of your trainers," Valerie teased, rolling her eyes when Matti blushed. "Nobody's going to be going back to their room this early. If they are, they're probably in a hurry, so they'll use the elevator. Chill."
Sure enough, the stairwell was empty, which started to give Matti a false sense of security, until she saw the door outside. Valerie didn't give her a chance to hesitate, however, shoving it open and pushing Matti through with a swat to her bottom. "Have fun at school today!" she cooed, stepping past her. "And keep those pants dry for once!"
Matti squeaked, looking around to see who had overheard. Fortunately, there wasn't anybody too close, but even seeing people in the distance was enough to petrify her. Quickly, she swung her messenger bag around, letting it hang in front of her crotch, hoping it would hide her secret a little more, though there wasn't much she could do about the back of the tiny skirt, and any peeks she might be giving there.
And she was certain everybody was staring at her already. She wasn't used to that, or to anyone paying much attention to her at all. She felt so pale, with so much skin exposed, with her not knowing if that, or the bright, bubblegum pink of her outfit was more eye-grabbing. It really did make her think of cheerleading, where she always felt the same way. There, she was supposed to be grabbing peoples' attention, and she hated that, even if she hadn't done it in front of anyone except the squad yet.
It didn't help that people who saw her now, who didn't know her, probably assumed she was someone who acted that way, even in public. People who dressed like this, in her experience, were bubbly and energetic and outgoing, like her sister, Kelsey, and the rest of the squad wanted her to be, at least when she had the uniform on. It was all so weird to her, so foreign, and it felt like such an act when she had to do it in practice.
Nobody said she had to do that now, but that wouldn't stop people from thinking she would, and that was almost as bad, being seen as that kind of person. The big Barbie logo plastered across her chest wasn't going to help her dissuade them from that assumption, either, nor would the fact that it was cropped so short. She knew she shouldn't generalize, and that there were probably smart, mostly quiet girls who would wear this shirt, too, but there likely weren't a lot of other tomboys who would ever be caught dead in it.
She sighed, shaking her head. She couldn't just stand here and fret all day, she couldn't get back into her dorm room, and there was no way she was going to show up at one of her friends' rooms and ask for their help, and let them see her like this. The best thing she could do, like it or not, was to head to class. She forced herself to start moving towards the building where her first class was held, letting her bag bounce against the front of her legs, not caring how weird it might look, only to encounter something she hadn't thought about until now as she felt a cool breeze on her thighs.
The wind! She wasn't used to wearing skirts, much less ones this short, and all the cheerleading practices she'd been to had been inside, so she hadn't had to consider it then. Now, out in the open, it was a completely different ball game. One strong gust, and it was all over, no matter what she did! "Valerie!" she growled, staring at the cheerleader's rapidly shrinking form, already too far away for the girl to hear her, much less do anything. How was she supposed to deal with this?!
Maybe, she thought, if she'd gone along with Kelsey, and let her sister pick out outfits for her now and then, she would have also taught her what to do in this situation. But she'd always been staunchly against that, which left her totally clueless. She had to be on guard constantly, but how could she do that, and not look ridiculous?
She tugged at the back of her skirt and began to walk, but she didn't get more than a couple steps before she realized how awkward that was. She moved her messenger bag so that it was hanging behind her, instead, hoping that she'd slung it into the right position, which did feel better, but the front of her skirt could be blown up, too, and keeping ahold of it the whole time made her look like a little girl desperately searching for a bathroom, which was not what she wanted people to think of when they looked at her, either, especially if they happened to catch a glimpse of her Pull-Ups to see how true it was.
"Why is it so short?" she fumed, giving the skirt a good pull, sliding it down a bit. That wasn't so bad, she thought, quickly adding that she was saying that only in comparison to what it had been before. It gave her a little more leeway, and let her walk without having a panic attack every time she moved.
She made it a few more steps before she glanced back down and recognized why Valerie had positioned the skirt so high in the first place. The crotch of her Pull-Ups were better hidden, yes, but the waistband was now sticking out from the top, complete with the fake 'lace' drawn onto it, to make it look like the waistband of a pair of big girl underwear, and the word 'Pull-Ups' emblazoned on either side of the flower in the center.
She yanked the skirt back up quickly, face burning as she replayed the last few seconds, the few people who had brushed past her. Had any of them looked down? Had they seen?! She squirmed in embarrassment at how close she'd come, and how she really didn't know for sure that she hadn't just exposed her secret, though hopefully everyone else was in just as much of a rush as she was. She felt a warmth building up in her cheeks, but also between her legs as she thought about how dumb that had been, especially for someone as supposedly smart as her.
She was just going to have to take it slow, and keep an eye on her skirt, and pray there wasn't a sudden wind. She kept her hands close by, ready to grab, feeling a tinge of excitement in her tummy at the knowledge that they might not be close enough, or she might not be fast enough. She didn't want to flash her trainers to anyone who happened to be walking past, but she couldn't deny how hot the idea was, at least this morning, after Valerie had teased her so much with the vibrator. She tried to tell herself that she wouldn't feel that way normally, but she honestly wasn't sure one way or the other in the moment.
Luckily, she didn't end up doing it after all. What she did end up doing instead, however, was be late for her first class. She'd known it was happening as she saw the crowds on the sidewalks start to thin out, and by the time she got into the building, she could confirm it by the clock. She considered skipping, but what else was she going to do? All she could do was hope that her teacher hadn't started yet. She had a decent chance, with this class, anyway, since it was the professor's earliest, and he was usually a little slow at the beginning.
But, of course, when she pushed open the door, she felt an entire room full of people turn to stare at her, and her silly outfit. "S-Sorry," she gulped, staring at the teacher. "I-I was just..."
It was almost more embarrassing, having her professor look at her this way, as opposed to all of the other students in the room, and who she'd passed outside. Her professors, she hoped, respected her, knew what she could do, how smart she was, while she had mostly kept to herself, and her small group of friends, so the majority of the student body might not have recognized her at a quick glance, or assumed she was somebody else. So, even though she was grateful he didn't make a scene, it did sting slightly how little reaction the professor had, as if this was all perfectly normal for her.
"No problem," he said. "We're just getting started. Take a seat."
Matti glanced up at her usual seat, towards the back of the room, which was empty. It was also on a higher level than she was on now, which would mean climbing a few more stairs. It wasn't many, and most of the students were watching the front of the room, but if they looked over when she was going up them, or if the professor did...
She squirmed, shaking her head, trying to rid herself of the question of if it would be worse for him to say nothing, as if he saw that as normal for her, too, or if he spoke up and asked her what she was wearing, causing a scene in front of the rest of the class. This wasn't the time for either fantasy! She trudged to an empty desk in the front row, as weird as it felt to be there, feeling like everyone was staring at her. At least she had the back of the chair to help hide her Pull-Up from their view.
She let out a sigh of relief, digging out her laptop to start taking notes as her professor wrote on the board. She was safe, at least for a little while. She smiled slightly, feeling proud of herself for making it, despite everything, glancing over at the other students around her to be sure they were staring at her, and that she hadn't made some other huge mistake she wasn't thinking of.
She was, as it turned out, and it didn't occur to her until she noted how the other girls, or at least the ones wearing skirts, were sitting, how they had their knees pressed together. Suddenly, lectures she'd heard her mother give Kelsey when they were younger, while she sat by, smugly thinking how they'd never apply to her because she wasn't going to be caught dead in some dumb dress, came flooding back to her, and she clamped her legs closed, right before the professor turned away from the board to start explaining what he'd written.
That was a close one! She blushed, wiggling in her seat, rubbing her thighs together. Hopefully, he wouldn't have been looking there anyway, but if he had, it definitely would have looked like she was intentionally flashing him, wanting him to see her Pull-Ups, rather than just being used to wearing pants, in which she didn't have to worry about that. Her cheeks started to warm further as she heard the soft crinkling of her trainers, felt the padding brushing against her, but she forced her legs to stay still, not trusting herself not to get carried away if this went any further.
She did her best to concentrate, but, try as she might, most of her attention remained between her legs, with her Pull-Ups, both in her desperation to keep them hidden, and in how good it felt to not only have them on, but also to be keeping them a secret. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd have the courage to do this, but it was one of those things that happened in stories all the time, and that she'd always found hot. And now that she'd been forced into it, she had to admit that she'd been right all along. Being padded in class was amazing, if not incredibly distracting for her!
It would have been so much nicer to be wearing them under her normal clothes, where it would be almost impossible for them to be noticed, but there was something thrilling about being in them here, with so many people around her, totally ignorant of them. And also, if she was being honest, about how easy it would be for that to change if she moved the wrong way, or if, somehow, somebody overheard all the little crinkles she was making as she wriggled in place, unable to help herself.
It felt so good, in fact, that she almost didn't even bother trying to make it to the bathroom. There hadn't been time to go before they left the dorm, Valerie had claimed, so her bladder had already been fairly full, and by the end of class, it was close to bursting. She'd have had no problem waiting until she made it to a toilet, but if sitting there in a dry Pull-Up was exciting, wouldn't it be even more thrilling if it was wet? If she peed her pants right in the middle of class? Sure, Valerie would make her wear them again tomorrow, but as long as she didn't pull out another surprise 'present' of an outfit, that wasn't even really a punishment, right? Not if Matti could pick out what she wore over them!
Her thighs started to rub together again automatically as she imagined it, and she could feel her bladder starting to relax before she put a stop to it, clenching her muscles. What if she leaked?! She blushed, imagining the sound of dripping, everyone wondering where it was coming from, looking around until they realized it was coming from her chair, spotting the puddle slowly growing beneath her. Or even if it was as simple as her standing up, and having a wet spot on the back of her skirt, one that she could easily have no idea about until somebody pointed it out to her.
Besides, she wasn't getting back into her room until after practice. Valerie might change her before practice, but likely not until then. Did she really want to spend the rest of the day wet? What if she got a rash?! Both of those thoughts were humiliating, though in a way that almost made her want to do it, to see what it was like, her curiosity almost getting the better of her.
Instead, when the professor announced class was over, she closed her laptop, embarrassed to see how few notes she'd managed to take in the middle of her daydreaming, and shuffled to the nearest restroom, sliding her Pull-Ups to her knees and sitting on the toilet, careful to keep ahold of the trainers to ensure they didn't slip down her legs to become visible underneath the door. It was almost disappointing how, while her bladder had been full, it wasn't anything even approaching a close call. She hadn't had to come running out, not caring if anyone saw beneath her flapping skirt, to dash to the nearest bathroom, praying that she'd get there in time, certain that if there was even a single dribble that made its way into her pants before she got to her destination, that Valerie would find out and keep her in trainers for another day. It would have been more fun that way, but she knew this was an occasion where 'more fun' didn't necessarily mean 'better.'
She'd made it through one class, she told herself as she sat there, listening to the trickling beneath her. Somehow, she'd done it. Surely, now that she had, and had learned a little more about how to move, and sit, in this skirt, it would be smooth sailing from here.
Right?