“Well, you know they are just sitting on that bench to look at your legs, to look up your skirt.” Jenny looked at me and smiled. We were both sitting on the steps outside the university building, and sure enough opposite us were two of our classmates.

Jenny and I were eating our sandwiches, she was sunny and blond, always big smiles to go with her perfect teeth and deep olive coloured skin. We were sitting on white stone steps in the main quad of the university, sun streamed from the clear blue sky, and I felt it on my bare legs.

I had had a big inferiority complex about Jenny for the first term of our course, but slowly, as time had passed, we had become friends, and I had come to terms with how I could cope with the contrast between my white English complexion, my skinny arms and legs next to her more rounded perfect form. My light brown hair seemed thin next to her deep brown, almost black glossy locks.

“Well, I don’t think that any of the boys are here to look at me, lets be clear.” I retorted, “I think we both know that it is a lot more likely they are here to look up your skirt than mine.” I giggled at her as we sat there, looking at the two guys opposite us, I knew we were now both watching them a little, trying to determine which of the guys was actually looking, and who they were looking at.

“I don’t think you are entirely right there; you know Greg, the one on the right, well I am pretty sure he is interested in you after that ball at the end of last term. I danced with him a bit, and he asked about you twice, I think he was mainly dancing with me just to get some background on you.”

I cast my mind back to the end of term ball, to the way I had watched them dancing together, so very sure that he was going to get off with her. I was surprised that Greg had asked Jenny, I had wanted him too but perhaps my natural reticence had counted against me. I remembered back to how I had avoided eye contact, avoided any encouraging body language. Jenny on the other hand had been bold, had seemed like the mistress of the dancefloor, walking up to groups of boys and demanding attention.

One problem with hanging out with Jenny was that it was definitely not helping my confidence with men. I knew that she had had guys as partners before university, and my lack of partners was starting to weigh on my mind. But then no one was ever going to notice me when I was standing next to her, to her perfect skin tone, athletic arms and legs, perfectly sculpted breasts. My own white pasty skin tone and skinny flattish chest was never going to get any attention.

“Clare, you know you under-sell yourself; you just have to get out there. Make yourself more available. Like… what do you think about Greg, I am telling you that he is interested in you.”

“Look, Greg is great, and we did that project together last term which went quite well, but I just don’t get any kind of vibe from him that he is interested, you really think he is?” I sat there and then saw him glance at us, trying to disguise my attention, he really did check me out.

I felt myself blush as I became aware of his eyes on me, scanning down from face to my tight white t-shirt and then lower, to my legs. The pretty blue skirt rested on my thighs, above the knee, but I knew that my legs were together, and with the edges of the skirt pulled tight, it covered me up enough.

“Ha, you see, you saw that right? He was categorically looking at you, looking to see your legs. I told you he is interested. Why don’t you encourage him a bit, I know you want him. You always go for the clever intellectual quiet ones, the runners. He has got a great bum though.”

This was another of Jenny’s sins, she was always telling me whom I did or didn’t fancy, where my relationship interests lay, it bugged me a bit that she was right more often than not about it all, but then perhaps I liked it as well.

“Show him more.” She demanded as we both saw him glance over again, I squinted at him over the top of the diet coke can, seeing his eyes resting more intently on my body, perhaps on my legs.

“What do you mean, more? You mean, like my legs?” I glanced at her; she was laughing a little at my uneasiness. I watched her as she shifted a little on the step, and then almost thoughtlessly, raised one of her legs as she lowered the other, I suppose showing a little more of the top of her thighs to the two guys directly opposite.

They were however both obviously aware of what she did, one turned a little, and they both moved their heads, hardly noticeable perhaps if you were not concentrating on them, but I did notice. I saw their eyes move over her a little, a jolt of thrill passed through me at the thought of actively encouraging guys to look at me like that, to desire me.

“See what I mean, they might be pretending just to sit there, but they aren’t. Now your turn. I dare you.” She looked me in the eyes as she returned her legs to their original position.

I felt my face redden a little with embarrassment, even just the thought of it made me embarrassed, but I knew I wanted to feel the thrill, I knew I wanted to see them look at me, to watch me as showed just a hint more of my bare white legs.

I looked over at her, stared at her, looked directly into her eyes, then I moved my legs, lifted my knees higher, then almost absentmindedly, I let my knees part. As I looked into her eyes, I watched as she looked over at them. By now she was looking directly at them, scanning them to see what they were up to.

“So…” I asked, “Are they, are they looking then?” I almost whispered, as if it were some sort of secret.

“Ha! Are you really asking, do you really wonder, you saw how they looked at me, and I was showing nothing, you sit there, knees up and legs apart showing them your knickers, and you ask if they are looking? Believe me, they watched your every move. And I can tell you it was Greg that really watched, not his geek friend, I am telling you, he fancies you, next time you see him at the bar, talk to him.” She replied with a naughty giggle.

I held the position for a while. Now, I felt my heart beating faster, almost hammering in my chest, I didn’t even know why, but I did. I let my knees part a little more, then glanced around, looked directly into Greg’s direction. There was no doubt in my mind, he was looking directly between my legs at the pretty white cotton, decorated with pink flowers that I remembered buying with my mum a few months ago.

As soon as I looked at him, I lowered my eyes, then swiftly closed my legs, pulled down the hem of the skirt, almost as if I had no idea what I had done, as if it were an accident. Did I think that they thought it was an accident, a mistake, that I didn’t know what I had done? I wasn’t sure, I didn’t care, but I did know how excited I felt as I saw the desire in his eyes.

“Come on Jenny, we have to go. Perhaps you are right, but, but, well I want to think about how I feel about him.”

We stood and walked off, Jenny put her arms through mine, and we walked off towards my room.

“Well Clare, I think you enjoyed that in the end, you enjoyed seeing him look didn’t you, admit it, you liked the way he wanted you? Well, you have to ask him out now, or you are just teasing him.”

“Teasing him? You are the one that made me do it, dared me to do it.”

“Oh, come on, don’t give me that, I made you, I suggested it one time and then you jumped at the chance, and then you were so aroused that even I could see your nipples hardening.”

We walked on in silence, I didn’t think it was worth denying any of it, we were friends, she knew me too well.

“You know Clare, you could do with some nicer clothes, some nicer knickers.”

We were walking down the middle of the shopping area in town the following weekend. I didn’t have a lot of money, but Jenny did, and I sometimes accompanied her around the local shops. She had great taste and it could be fun to try on new clothes with her, even if it was just a bit of fantasy shopping.

I looked over at her, into her eyes, and we shared a moment then I laughed first.

“You mean, if I am going to go around the university, showing them to guys?” We both laughed then.

“Yeah, you bad, bad girl…. Exactly what I mean. Come on, let’s see what we can find.” She took my hand and pulled me into Marks and Spencer, she knew I couldn’t afford the nicer, expensive lingerie boutiques and I was relieved that at least I could afford the pretty little things in M&S.

We walked through the ground floor area, passed all the nice dresses and skirts, and walked through to the lingerie department. I walked up to the multi-buy area where all the cotton and polyester knickers were stacked in boxes of three.

“No Clare, not those ones, let’s look at the fun ones… If you are going to be showing off, then you need to show off properly.” She added with a grin and led me through the more exotic choices.

There were a few mannequins decorating the store in lace bodies, satin knickers and bras, corsets, nothing that I had ever worn before. I ran my hands over some of the satin, so soft, shiny, a most perfect feeling. I imagined how it would feel next to my bare skin.

“What do you prefer, lace or satin?” Jenny asked, holding up two hangers, one with a pair of pink satin in a shorts style, the other a little white lace thong, almost see through. I imagined myself in each of them, felt a jolt of excitement at the idea of wearing them, at the idea of a guy seeing me in them, in how he might feel about me as he looked at me.

“I don’t know, lace, satin, silk, it is all amazing, beautiful. OMG, Jenny, can you imagine me in those, I mean..” I stuttered.

“You mean can I imagine you wearing them sitting on the steps outside the Uni, and Gregg sitting opposite. Yes, Clare, I can imagine you doing precisely that, and looking at your face, I think you can too.”

We looked through the whole department and found a few things, knickers, thongs and bras in pink satin and white lace. Jenny had beautiful taste and it was fun to select a whole new range of underwear just for the fun of it. I couldn’t afford them all, but she gave me the rest as a present.

“I think you will need to have a few choices, and how knows, it might help your confidence with Greg.” Jenny whispered in my ear as we walked out carrying the small bag.

“So…. Did you? Which pair?” Jenny asked me as we walked out of the lecture, she giggled as we walked to the cafeteria and bought a couple of salads. By now my heart was beating harder again, I felt the tension in my chest, in my legs as we walked to the steps again.

“I wonder if the guys will show today, if they will show for the show ha ha!” She laughed as she looked around, searching for them in crowds milling around the steps.

I sat on the steps and flattened my skirt, looked around, glanced over at the benches but they were empty. I felt a slight disappointment, but then, I suppose, they had no reason to come along, no reason to think we would be there, no reason to want to come and see me.

We ate our lunch and then sat back a little and chatted about the course and what we liked, what we didn’t like, which of the lecturers we thought were the best and the cleverest. As we involved ourselves in the conversation, I didn’t even notice that Greg and Chris had sat down at the bench opposite us and were similarly involved in some conversation.

“You know Clare, it would be a lot simpler for you if you just walked over and chatted to him, you really don’t need to even play this game.” Jenny eventually looked me in the eye and then twisted her head, looking over at the bench.

I pretended to look around at the gate, but also checked out the guys on the bench, my lips puckering a little as I saw them there again. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that they were there, but I didn’t think so.

“I don’t need to play this game, but then he could just come over and chat, or something, but well in some ways this is kind of daring, it has a feeling of hide and seek, of innocent fun.” I replied eventually after thinking through my emotions.

“Anyway, you didn’t reply to my question, which of the new outfits did you wear under that skirt? Did you go for the pink satin or the white lace, just how daring did you decide to be?”

“It’s none of your business, anyway, maybe I won’t do anything today, maybe they will have to wait till another time.” I replied, but my reddening face and beating heart betrayed the reality of the situation.

“You are such a bad liar Clare, we both know you are going to, I bet you wore the satin ones, and I bet you have been thinking about sitting here this lunchtime since about 11 this morning.” She ran her hand up my arm over the top of my t-shirt, under my chin. “Tell me I am wrong.”

“Well, you are wrong about the satin, how about that.” I replied with a smile.

She looked down at my legs, still straight in front of me, feet together, skirt flat over the top of my legs.

“Oh… so you did decide to be bold, a white lace thong under that short skirt. I bet you have been walking around all morning feeling the material of the skirt flapping on your bare bum, thinking about how you would be sitting here, how Greg would be looking over at you…. Just like you are now.” Jenny was grinning widely now; she grinned a lot but there was a new level of smug pleasure in her eyes as she watched me.

“You only know what a thong under a short skirt feels like because that’s what you wear half the time in the summer. I have seen you after yoga, I am not an idiot, don’t try to make out I am behaving badly, when you do the same.” I looked her in the eyes, and she grinned, we both knew that none of it really mattered.

Somehow the interaction with her, the teasing had made me more decisive, I no longer felt the same doubt as before, and as before I raised my knees and scratching my foot, between the toes, then raised the other knee, felt the skirt lifting higher, slipping a little from my knee down towards my waist.

I knew exactly what they would see now, I had practiced in the mirror in my room. I knew how the skirt pulled higher would no longer cover my knickers, how the white lace was pulled tight over my neatly trimmed Pussy, the triangle of light brown hair perhaps even visible through the attractive floral lace pattern.

I sat there like that for a minute, and Jenny sat back, admiring my boldness, perhaps even impressed that I had got up the confidence to do it. I chatted to her for a while like that, glancing a couple of times at the guys, they both looked in that moment, just glanced, not staring, not wanting to be caught, or to be too bold. But they saw, and I felt my arousal growing as I knew they had.

I could only sit like that for a few moments, my body started to feel warm, I could feel the nipples pressing into the slightly rough white lace bra that I was also wearing, the bra matching the thong. Jenny glanced down at me, seeing small dimples on the tight white t-shirt.

“Mmm.” She murmured. “I can see you are actually enjoying yourself, showing yourself, being seen by him here on the steps, actively showing yourself to a guy you fancy. You know you really have to go and talk to him eventually; you can’t hope to seduce him just by showing off to him. That isn’t going to get him into your bed.”

“Who said anything about getting him into my bed Jenny!” I exclaimed. “Just because I want to play with his arousal, doesn’t mean I want so much more.” I retorted with a grin on my lips.

“Oh yeah, right, so you show yourself to people like this all the time do you? You would like any of the other guys in the class to see you how you are, showing so much? You really aren’t doing it just because it is Greg down there. Come on Clare, I don’t know who you are trying to persuade, because it isn’t working.”

I got up and returned my skirt to a more respectable position, smiling, and then taking her arm we walked down the steps and passed the two guys. They focussed intently on their food as we walked past them. Both sides of the quartet ignored the other, each pretending that nothing had happened.

“Hey Clare, what are you wearing to the ball on the weekend?” Jenny walked into my room without knocking, as was her way. “I hear that Greg is going, and you should wear something outrageously sexy so you can seduce him once and for all.”

I looked around on my chair at her, my head at a slight angle as I shook it, her behaviour was getting worse I felt, her suggestions getting more outrageous by the day.

“Jenny, since when has it been your role in my life to determine what I should wear, who I should seduce?” I responded, although the gentle smile on my lips gave away my real feelings.

“Look, it’s more than halfway through the year and the opportunities for getting you into bed with him are passing by. You need to get a move on, we can’t send you back to wherever it is you come from without having got off with at least one guy this year.”

I felt the same way in my heart, but somehow having her saying it to me made me feel defensive. I knew she a quiet affair simmering nicely with a second year she had met in a Law Society ball and that she was getting more than her fair share of physical affection.

“OK, so I am planning on wearing that black strapless dress that you saw at Christmas, you know, knee length. It is pretty sexy, and I am sure I will look good in it.” I reply. It is my only real sexy dress and so there isn’t really a lot of choice.

“Boring! Come on Clare, that will be the third time you have worn that, you can’t roll it out again. Look, there is this website where you can buy second hand dresses, or even just hire them for a night. I know you can’t afford to buy a new one but this will be within your means.”

I look around at her, but she has already grabbed my laptop and is typing into the browser. I have seen her in this mood before and I know there is no point arguing, she will only become more intent, violent even. So, I stand from the desk and walk with her, slumping into the duvet on my bed, beside her as she starts to scroll through the available dresses.

“Look…. Here this is the sort of thing I think you should wear with your gamine figure, kind of like a 1920s style, a bit Downton. What do you think?” She is gesturing to a black and white dress that looks great on the model, but I can’t quite envisage how it might fit me.

I looked at the pictures, the tight silky fabric with tulle panels over the bust and at the bottom of the hem, a very daring low back and just two thin spaghetti straps on the shoulders. I knew it would suit my figure but also that I would feel very exposed in it. I imagined it and my body responded, the hairs on my arms raising a little, and a blushing on my chest.

“You have the right figure for it, small hips and breasts, you can just wear it on its own, and Greg will go wild for your, imagine him dancing with you, his hands on your bare shoulders. Look it is super low on your back, so it will feel delicious on you. And I can lend you some long pearls and maybe a band to go round your hair, or perhaps a cigarette holder.”

I couldn’t get over the idea that this whole thing was an ambush, she seemed to have already prepared all her plans for the ball and the dress, and at the same time, I could see the sense in it. It wasn’t very long before I was entering my card details into the website to have it delivered the next day.

The dress arrived the next day and I took it up to my bright and perfectly tidy room straight away. I took it out and held it on a hanger. It felt so light, the main body was a thin silky satin in narrow black and white stripes decorated with tulle panels above the neckline and below the hem, some additional pretty, decorative ribbons also decorated the waist and neck.