Katy & Amber - Episode 25: Amber & Maddy's Night Out (m/f, f/f, f/ff, ff/f, nylons)

Howdy all,

The latest installment of Katy & Amber is hot off the presses. I know updates have been slower than usual and the views/comments have been decreasing, so I hope people aren't getting sick of my favorite imaginary people! haha

This episode introduces some new characters who may or may not pop up again at some point down the road and includes multiple ticklings going on at once. It's lengthy - almost thirty pages single-spaced - and contains a lot of internal monologue, as usual, so I hope it isn't too much.

Happy reading and, as always, comments and thoughts are always appreciated!
OldEnglish

Katy & Amber - Episode 25: Amber & Maddy's Night Out (m/f, f/f, f/ff, ff/f, nylons)

Katy let out a loud sigh as she walked from the kitchen to the living room. Her roommate Amber had gone home for the weekend - some sort of family celebration - so Katy had the entire apartment to herself. Ordinarily, that might be a good thing, but Katy was never one to enjoy alone time all that much. Worse, both Nicki and Maddy were also unavailable, as well - Maddy back home with friends and Nicki at her own family function. Thus, Katy faced the prospect of spending the evening alone. Not that there would be anything wrong with that necessarily, but Katy knew that she would much prefer to spend the evening in the company of someone else. She quickly perused her phone to see who else might be around who might be down for a quiet night in.

***

Amber gave herself a once-over in the mirror as she prepared to leave with her parents. There were other places she’d rather be on a Saturday night, for sure, but it wasn’t everyday that her favorite uncle retired after a lengthy career with the company, and so the family was getting together to offer their well-wishes and Amber felt she should be there. It was to be a relatively-modest affair - dinner at a nice restaurant with Amber’s parents chauffeuring her to and from to save gas money. Amber was dressed for the occasion, a black sweater covering a white blouse which sat atop a pair of black dress pants. Per usual, Amber had worn a pair of pantyhose -off-black - under her pants and she completed her outfit with a pair of black ankle booties. As Amber stood in front of the mirror, she cast both legs out at various angles, one at a time, to see if there was ever a chance that the pantyhose she had on would be seen in the gap between the booties and the pants. To her delight, there did not seem to be. One could never be too certain, of course, especially with a family like Amber’s.

***

Maddy and her friends laughed as they sat back in their seats in the restaurant. Maddy had returned home for the weekend and her first order of business had been to catch up with some old friends from high school. Dinner first and then drinks. Maddy loved where she lived, of course, but did sometimes feel homesick - not that she lived all that far away, of course, but an hour’s drive both ways after a long day of work was usually not on the top of the list of things to do. So when the stars aligned and Maddy and her friends had open calendars on a weekend, they tried their best to take advantage of it. Inseparable in high school, Maddy had remained friendly with Meredith and Melanie even as life took them in separate directions. As luck would have it on this Saturday night, life brought them all back together for a trip down memory lane at their favorite burger place from high school.

The place hadn’t changed all that much from what Maddy had remembered. It was a fairly large dining room but had a smaller feel to it. Bar height tables sprinkled throughout the floor with bar height stools pulled up to them. Throughout the room, burgers and shakes were being passed out by the trayful by the attending waitstaff. Maddy, Melanie, and Meredith had been working on their burgers, still as delicious as they remembered them from high school, for some time.

The three girls were a little out of place in this restaurant that typically catered to families or high school students in town, but they didn’t mind. In their minds this evening, they were back in high school themselves — not that they were all that far removed from high school, anyways. And truth be told, had they been dressed in sweats and a hoodie, no one would even have noticed their presence. Not that they were drawing a crowd, of course, but the girls certainly were a little over-dressed for the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Meredith and Melanie had dressed almost identically, their stone blue skinny jeans tucked into their calf-high boots, each with a long sleeve top and a sweater - albeit a different color sweater, at least. Maddy wasn’t dressed all that differently, either, of course - skinny jeans, blouse, and sweater herself - but she had instead opted for a pair of black flats that evening. As had become her habit recently, Maddy wore a pair of suntan pantyhose under her jeans, her flats clearly displaying the nylons to anyone who might look down.

“I’m probably going to hit up the little girls’ room,” Melanie said, hopping down from her stool and walking towards the back.

“Boy this really brings back some memories, huh?” Meredith said to Maddy.

“Sure does,” Maddy said, looking around at the surroundings and reminiscing about all of the weekends spent in this very dining room. Meredith joined in as the two shared moments as they sprung to their memories - the fun times, the awkward double-dates, the times where classmates had been kicked out. Everything that made high school unforgettable.

As Maddy spoke, she dangled her right flat off of her toes under the table, the counter height of the stools combining with Maddy’s general short stature to make for the perfect shoe-dangling environment. The slippery fabric of the nylons made it a tad more difficult to keep the flat from falling to the floor, but Maddy was an experienced shoe-dangler and made sure to keep the shoe within a safe distance.

“You remember that time with Billy?” Meredith asked, not needing to complete the sentence for the memory to come back to Maddy. Maddy brought her hands to her head to hide her embarrassment, placing her elbows on the table as she hid her head. Talk about an awkward date; that was surely a memory that Maddy had no desire to reminisce about.

At the same time, Melanie was returning from the bathroom, the noise from the dining room at such a level that neither Maddy nor Meredith noticed her approaching their table. Indeed, Maddy was seated so that her back was towards Melanie, anyways, and would not have seen Melanie approaching regardless.

Melanie saw her friends laughing and a sly smile spread across her face. She saw Maddy sitting, her back to Melanie, unaware that she was approaching. She saw Maddy’s arms up on the table, her head hidden in her hands. She saw how that had left Maddy’s sides wide open, unprotected. She thought back to high school, to these very weekends the girls used to share, and wondered…

“I just KNEW one of you two would bring that up-AHHHH!” Maddy shrieked, jumping in her chair as she felt Melanie’s hands land on each of her sides. Melanie and Meredith laughed at their friend’s reaction as Maddy’s face grew even more red with embarrassment. Worse, the jolt from her jumping had been enough to knock her flat off her foot, and the unfortunate bounces that the flat had taken had landed it right under Melanie’s stool.

“Oh my gosh, you’re STILL ticklish?” Meredith asked with a laugh, though Maddy’s reaction had clearly already answered that question.

“People don’t exactly grow out of being ticklish,” Maddy said matter-of-factly, hoping that this conversation wouldn’t drag on for too long. Those memories of high school came back to her now, just as they had for Melanie a moment ago - about how Maddy had always been the most ticklish amongst the group of friends, about how any down time or period of boredom was usually resolved by an unprovoked tickle attack on Maddy, her paroxysm of laughter only drawing more and more tickle attacks from onlookers.

“Really, though?” Meredith pressed, not the least concerned about Maddy’s embarrassment. “You’re not even the least bit less ticklish than you used to be?”

“Oh yeah,” Maddy said unconvincingly. “Of course. I just mean…” she continued, trying to come up with something to say that would sound smart and, most importantly, convincing.

“That’s total BS,” Melanie said, confident that her first-hand experience of getting Maddy to almost fall off of her stool from a simple poke to the side belied Maddy’s claim of being less ticklish. “You almost just jumped through the roof,” Melanie said with a laugh.

“You just startled me,” Maddy said, grasping at straws for excuses.

“Weren’t her feet her most ticklish spot?” Meredith asked Melanie, the two now having an almost-private conversation on their own.

The mention of her feet drew butterflies to Maddy’s stomach, especially so when she realized that Melanie’s tickle attack had caused Maddy to jump so high that she lost a flat from one of her feet.

“Oh my gosh, yeah,” Melanie said, reminiscing with Meredith now. “Remember every time we used to go get a pedicure?”

“We’d have to talk her down off the ledge,” Meredith said with a laugh.

“Well, come on now…” Maddy began, only to be interrupted.

“Remember the time she almost kicked the poor woman in the face?” Melanie asked, both girls laughing.

“That was really an embarrassing…” Maddy began, before being cut off again.

“Or what about the time on the bus on the way to the soccer game?” Meredith asked.

“Oh no, I had forgotten about that,” Maddy said, hiding her head in her hands.

“Are your feet still ticklish?” Melanie asked, point-blank.

Maddy popped her head out of her hands to see both friends staring back at her, eagerly awaiting her response. “Ahm…” Maddy said, trying to figure out how to answer.

“That’s a yes!” both Melanie and Meredith said in unison, high-fiving each other as they received the news they hoped to hear.

Melanie snuck a peek under the table to see the objects in question, though what she saw brought an instant smile to her face as she recognized another opportunity to have some fun at Maddy’s expense, for underneath Melanie’s own stool was the discarded flat that had fallen from Maddy’s foot when Melanie had tickled her a moment ago. Which meant, of course, that just a short distance from that discarded flat was Maddy’s unprotected foot, dangling in the air.

“Lose something?” Melanie asked as she bent down and picked up Maddy’s shoe, bringing it over the table view for all to see.

“YES!” Maddy said, feeling embarrassed that her show was now on display even though it was only Melanie and Meredith who were watching. “Can I have it back, please?” she asked.

“In due time,” Melanie said with a smile, enjoying the torment she was putting her friend through.

Meredith snuck a peek under the table, as well, as if to confirm that the flat currently in Melanie’s hand did, indeed, come from their friend Maddy.

“Oh my gosh,” Meredith said, her head ricocheting back up after discovering what she saw. “Are you wearing nylons?” she asked Maddy.

“Y-yeah…” Maddy said with hesitation, hoping that Meredith’s mind wasn’t going where Maddy dreaded Meredith’s mind was going. Yes, Maddy’s feet already were her most ticklish spot by far, and yes, the addition of nylons to the equation only magnified how ticklish Maddy’s feet were considerably. And yes, anyone that Maddy had ever known to be tickled when wearing nylons had complained of the same result - they turned the not-so-ticklish to ticklish, the plain-old ticklish to super ticklish, and the super ticklish, like Maddy, to hopelessly ticklish.

But Maddy couldn’t remember a time where either Meredith or Melanie had ever tickled her when she had nylons on. What’s more, Maddy couldn’t really remember a time she ever saw Meredith herself wearing nylons. Sure, some time had passed since the girls were considered inseparable, so anything could have changed - after all, Maddy certainly wore nylons with more frequency now than she did back when they used to hang out more often - but nylons had also become an article of clothing many women had rallied against, something some women rarely if ever wore. So it was possible that Meredith might not realize the effect that nylons have in tickling.

Sure, Maddy knew it was a long-shot. Even though Meredith had never necessarily tickled Maddy when Maddy had nylons on, it was silly to think that Meredith had never tickled anyone when they had nylons on - especially where Meredith had three sisters. The odds that Meredith had never been in the same room as someone wearing nylons and had never stumbled upon that person’s feet were quite slim. But that hope - however slight - was all Maddy had, so she had to cling to it.

“Nylons under jeans,” Meredith mused. “Super cute.”

Melanie looked under the table again. Indeed, she had missed it earlier when she had seen Maddy’s shoe under her seat. She hadn’t noticed that Maddy had nylons on. That would be easy, though, considering that Maddy’s suntan nylons blended in so well with her natural skin tone that one could easily overlook that she had nylons on if one wasn’t looking closely. And evidently, Meredith had been looking closely. But why, Melanie wondered. What significance was it to Meredith that Maddy had nylons on?

“Thanks,” Maddy said, unsure of the true meaning of Meredith’s words. “You mind giving me my shoe back now?” Maddy asked, her attention turning to Melanie.

“Oh, uh, sure,” Melanie said, seemingly pulled from a daze as she handed Maddy’s shoe back to her.

***

It had been a fun evening at the restaurant for Amber’s uncle’s ceremony. The food was delicious, as to be expected and the company was sublime. Amber had always had a fondness for her uncle, and she had been pleasantly surprised to see Amanda in attendance, as well, as it had been rumored that she wasn’t going to end up being available to come. Amber had enjoyed chatting with her other cousins and with Amanda throughout the night. Now, though, there was nothing that Amber looked forward to more than getting home and taking off these darned ankle booties that she had been wearing. Amber had mistakenly picked the pair that was a half-size too small from her closet and her feet had been paying the price throughout the night. For a moment earlier that evening, Amber had considered wearing a pair of socks over her nylons within the boots, but she quickly was thanking her lucky stars that she had not; she couldn’t imagine how much more wedged in her feet would have felt with the added layer of socks inside the boots. Now, she was looking forward to taking those boots off and putting her feet up on the recliner…

But why did her parents just drive by their exit on the highway?

“Uh, Dad,” Amber said from the back. “Where are you going? You just drove by our exit.”

“Oh we’re headed over to Gram’s place,” Amber’s father said. “Didn’t you know everyone was meeting up there afterwards?”

“What?” Amber asked, completely taken aback by this news. “No, I had no idea.”

“Oh, sorry, sweetie,” Amber’s mom said. “I thought I told you. Well, we’re going over Gram’s place.”

“I wish you had told me!” Amber said, realizing as soon as the words left her mouth that they had come out in the wrong tone.

“I don’t see what difference it makes,” Amber’s mother said.

Amber sat in silence, flustered, not sure of what to say. Rather, she knew exactly what to say but knew that it would fall on deaf ears. For as long as Amber could remember, any large daily gathering had always ended with some unfortunate soul falling victim to a well-carried out tickle attack from the larger group. As one of the most ticklish in the family, Amber had often been that unfortunate soul and she knew that the sight of her feet in nylons would be akin to sharks smelling blood in the water. What had been a fun night save for perhaps a pair of sore feet was now taking a darker turn and a pit was beginning to form in Amber’s stomach.

Amber began to analyze the situation in her head, trying to find some way that she could spare herself what she felt was the inevitable tickle attack that would occur. Surely there must be someone else that she could inconspicuously put in the cross-hairs, no? Ticklishness was a trait that was certainly spread out amongst all of the members of Amber’s family, the females especially so, so there was no shortage of possibilities.

To start, in the very same car as Amber right now was a worthwhile candidate: Amber’s mother. Amber’s insane ticklishness had to come from somewhere and one need not look further than Amber’s mother as the source of that outrageous ticklishness. Amber’s mother was not short on ticklish spots, each one being more ticklish than the next. Much like her daughter, Amber’s mother was helplessly ticklish on the bottom of her feet and, also much like her daughter, there was no shortage of evidence to support that claim. It was also very well-known that Amber’s mother was also an incredibly easy tickle target, being almost religiously barefoot in the summer months and having to wear pantyhose daily for her work. Her propensity for wearing pantyhose extended beyond work duties, as well, for she was known to consider pantyhose an essential element of formal wear. As such, naturally, Amber’s mother was wearing a pair of off-black pantyhose under her gray dress pants this evening, the nylons clearly visible with the black flats she was wearing.

Then, of course, there was also Amber’s aunt, Becky. The younger sister of Amber’s mother, Aunt Becky had frequently been the subject of many a tickle attack growing up. It was difficult to say who was the more ticklish of the two sisters, Amber’s mother or her Aunt Becky. Though they were both ridiculously ticklish in their own right, it was, no doubt, a different kind of ticklish. Where Amber’s mother was more likely to put on a strong defensive front in the wake of a tickle attack, Aunt Becky was far more likely to fight fire with fire, forgoing any sort of defensive strategy in an attempt to out-tickle her attacker. Though the strategy did find some success, depending on the situation and the challenger, it was not without its negatives, as discarding any defensive efforts for someone as ticklish as Aunt Becky was often met with disastrous results, for should the attacker be able to mount a successful initial attack, Becky would be rendered helpless immediately. Of course, working in Aunt Becky’s favor tonight was her attire. Though she was wearing a dress with black pantyhose underneath, her knee high boots provided a fortress of protection against any tickle attacks for as long as they remained on.

Then there was Becky’s daughter, Stephanie. A few years younger than Amber, Stephanie had been a favorite tickle target of Amber growing up — that is, until Stephanie realized the true extent of how ticklish Amber was and how easy it was to turn the tables on her. Since then, the cousins had been in a bit of a stalemate, neither wanting to run the risk of being on the losing end of a tickle fight should one break out. Despite that caution, both were more than willing to join in on a gang tickle attack on the other, provided there was no chance of the focus of the attack being shifted onto them. Though Stephanie was likely equally as ticklish as her mother Becky, she hadn’t yet developed the master warrior tickle skills that her mother had, nor had she been able to hone her defensive skills like Amber’s mother had. That those two elements of Stephanie’s tickle fight game were still in development put her at a great disadvantage, as she often had to rely on the element of surprise to get a strong footing in any sort of tickle attack. Like her mother, though, Stephanie’s attire was working to her advantage tonight. The black leggings that she wore were tucked into her calf high boots, providing her most ticklish spot, the bottom of her feet, with a much-needed layer of protection.

Then there was Amanda. Of course, just a few weeks back, Amber wouldn’t even have considered Amanda in this analysis, but so much was learned over that one weekend back at school… Amanda had proven quite ticklish herself, ticklish enough to be a perfect fit with the other women tonight. Amber wondered how much, if any, influence she and Katy had had on her following that fateful weekend. Amanda had, admittedly, rarely if ever worn nylons prior to spending the weekend with the girls, yet then spent the entire weekend in nylons, thinking that that was what all college girls were doing nowadays. Of course, that decision had come with consequences for Amanda, as she soon found out - multiple times, in fact - just how much more ticklish one could be in nylons. Amber wondered if that realization had swayed Amanda back to the camp of not wearing nylons. It was impossible to say, for now; it certainly wasn’t something that was easy to weave into conversation, and Amanda’s outfit today, dress pants and ankle boots, offered no glimpse of skin to suggest what might - or might not be - lurking under those ankle boots.

There were others, of course, as well, but for a variety of reasons - age, general lack of known ticklishness, attire - Amber did not consider them as options.

So there it was - an imperfect grouping of possible candidates. On paper, Amber’s mother seemed the easiest target to shift the tickle focus onto - a woman known to all to be incredibly ticklish and, perhaps more importantly, rarely fight back against a tickle attack, who also happened to be wearing nylons and whose flats would, undoubtedly, find themselves by the front door as soon as she walked into the house. But there was also the unspoken truth that Amber’s mother, despite being an easy target herself, had an uncanny knack of having Amber’s number, as it were. Perhaps it was the mother instinct? Perhaps it was experience? Whatever the reason, when mother and daughter were pitted against each other, regardless of the circumstances, it was mother who usually prevailed. Aunty Becky also had two significant strikes against her - a woman who was also known to be hysterically ticklish and was also confirmed to be wearing pantyhose this evening. However, Aunt Becky had the good fortune of wearing a pair of knee high boots that would make gaining access to those feet nearly impossible. But… Those very same knee high boots that were providing Aunt Becky’s feet protection also came with a 3” heel that would no doubt start to weigh on her mind. Perhaps the very boots that were offering Aunt Becky protection would ultimately be the cause for her making herself vulnerable when she removed them? Stephanie and Amanda were both wild cards, of course. But incredibly ticklish in their own right, there were too many unknowns: would they remove their shoes? Even if they did, what was underneath them?

Amber was going to have to come up with a plan because one thing was for certain: it was getting more and more difficult to keep her own shoes with each passing moment.


***

Meredith twisted the keys to her apartment in the front door lock and gave it an easy nudge as she and her two friends walked in the door. Neither Melanie nor Maddy had been to Meredith’s apartment, and as it was the closest dwelling that didn’t include parents to where the three girls had been socializing, it made for a most suitable choice.

“Welcome to my Shack-to,” Meredith joked, there being absolutely nothing wrong with her apartment. Sure, it might have been a touch on the smaller side, but it was a perfectly adequate place for a single female to call home.

“Nice,” said Melanie, giving the apartment a quick survey.

“Oooo, ooooo,” said Meredith, stepping in the way of Melanie as Melanie had attempted to walk in. “Shoes off, if you don’t mind,” she said, bending down to unzip her ankle booties as she instructed her friends to do the same.

“Shoes… off?” Melanie asked, a bit startled by Meredith’s request.

“Yeah, honey, you don’t mind, do you?” Meredith asked. “The carpet is just newer and I want to keep it nice,” she explained as she tossed her booties next to the door. “Just kick your shoes off, get comfortable, and I’ll go get us something to drink, ok?” she asked.

“Sure,” Melanie said, not wanting to seem put off by her friend’s request.

“Shoes off, I guess,” Maddy repeated softly, a bit flustered at Meredith’s request in her own right. The topic of discussion over dinner was still fresh in Maddy’s mind, and she was sure, no doubt, in the minds of Meredith and Melanie, as well. If it weren’t embarrassing enough that Melanie had made her almost jump out of her own skin by poking her sides when she wasn’t expecting it, Meredith had somehow remembered that Maddy’s most ticklish spot wasn’t her sides, but her feet. And if that weren’t enough, Meredith had then taken great care to point out that Maddy was wearing nylons that night - and it was now those very nylons, as Maddy stepped out of her flats - that were the only thing left covering Maddy’s feet.

Melanie, meanwhile, was delicately removing her own shoes, unzipping the ankle booties and gently pulling them off. Her white ankle socks tucked over the cuff of her skinny jeans and she gave herself a once-over in the mirror after she was settled.

“Well…” Melanie said with a subtle sigh. “Shall we?” she asked, motioning Maddy to walk ahead of her into the living room area of the room.

Maddy walked ahead of Melanie, heading towards the single chair in the room instead of the loveseat. A smile instinctively spread across her face as the fibers of the carpet brushed against the bottom of her foot with each step, their light touch just enough to elicit a ticklish feeling and remind Maddy of her vulnerability. In hindsight, getting that pedicure earlier that afternoon likely wasn’t the greatest idea Maddy had had and certainly the decision to forgo socks in favor of pantyhose was one that was weighing on Maddy’s mind at the moment. Maddy cursed herself as a feeling of doom overtook her; being at her most vulnerable with two friends who were just reminded of how ticklish she is didn’t exactly leave Maddy feeling confident.

Melanie plopped up on the loveseat, tucking her legs under her body as she made herself comfortable. She tugged at her jean legs, pulling them down a smidge with a gentle yank, smiling uneasily at Maddy as she sat down in her chair, tucking her own legs under her own body just as Melanie had.

“You two seem tense,” Meredith said as she returned from the kitchen with a tray of snacks and refreshments for everyone. “Maybe I should pour some more alcohol in these drinks,” she joked, wanting to lighten the mood in the room.

Maddy observed Meredith as she walked back into the room, paying particular attention as she sat down on the loveseat next to Melanie. She knew it was a longshot, but Maddy was hoping to find some indication that, perhaps, Meredith might be wearing nylons herself. Unfortunately for Maddy, there was nothing about Meredith’s attire that indicated the presence of nylons. Indeed, now that her ankle boots had been removed, it was clear that Meredith had been wearing a pair of black no-show socks under her boots that evening. The no-show socks, of course, offered enough of a glimpse of Meredith’s ankle to suggest that there were no nylons underneath them. It was a long shot, of course, but still, Maddy had hoped… After being re-introduced to Maddy’s ticklishness and being reminded that Maddy’s feet were still her most ticklish spot, Meredith had taken a keen interest in the fact that Maddy was wearing nylons herself. Clearly, Meredith was aware of the effect nylons could have on a ticklish person, and Maddy had hoped that that awareness was the result of personal experience. Unfortunately for Maddy, even if that perceived knowledge were the result of Meredith’s personal experience, it didn’t seem like it would be something that Maddy would be able to use to her advantage should the situation arise. All was not lost, of course; at the very least, Meredith’s no-show socks would be easy to remove should there be a need to; if they were anything like Maddy’s, they would likely slide off of Meredith’s feet at some point anyways. Then, at the very least, Meredith would at least be barefoot. Melanie, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be as in tune with Maddy wearing nylons as Meredith was, so even though Melanie also had socks on, Maddy’s focus was more on Meredith than Maddy.

Still, after all that, the nagging question remained inside Maddy: Why had she worn nylons this evening??

***

Amber tried flexing her toes inside her boots, anything to provide a slight bit of relief to her aching feet. The car ride to Amber’s grandparent’s house had been relatively quiet, with Amber’s mother and father quietly chit-chatting as Amber pondered her best course of action internally. Now, as everyone had arrived at Amber’s grandparents’ house and had settled in, the night was going almost exactly as Amber had imagined.

As soon as they arrived at the door, Amber’s mother kicked her flats off in the hall and had been walking around the house with nothing covering her nyloned feet for the duration of the night. Aunt Becky had noticed right away, commenting on the color of Amber’s mother toenail polish, a deep red that was visible even through the off-black nylons.

“Cute toes,” Aunt Becky had said.

“Thanks,” Amber’s mother responded, showing off her foot to those around.

“Did you get a pedicure today?” Aunt Becky had asked.

“Yeah,” Amber’s mother said. “Felt I deserved to treat myself.”

“I could really go for a foot rub now,” Aunt Becky had said. “These boots are killer but they’re killer on my feet.

“Ask Karl,” Amber’s mother had suggested, referring to Becky’s husband. “It’s the least he could do.”

But Aunt Becky hadn’t taken Amber’s mother’s advice, opting, instead, to storm through the agony while keeping her boots on.

And, thus, that’s how they all came to be where they currently were, Aunt Becky sitting on the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her, her dress pulled up just a smidge to show that, despite her age, she still had killer legs; Stephanie and Amanda sitting next to each other against the wall on the far side of the room; Amber sitting in the swivel chair next to the door, surveying the scene, wondering how much longer she could stand being in her boots; and Amber’s mom sitting next to Amber’s dad on the sofa, her right leg tucked under her left leg so that her right foot was sticking out next to Amber’s dad.

“Jim, I don’t know how you put up with her,” Aunt Becky said of Amber’s mom after a smart-alec remark.

“Yeah, she can be a tough one to handle,” Amber’s father said, agreeing with Aunt Becky. “Lucky for me, though, I have a secret weapon to keep her in line,” he said with a smile.

“What kind of secret weapon?” Amber’s mother asked, not knowing what her husband was referring to, thinking it would be some sort of joke exaggerating his sex appeal or something of the like.

“This,” Amber’s father said, swiftly dragging one finger along the exposed sole of Amber’s mother’s right foot.

“Ahhhh!!!” Amber’s mother shouted, clearly not expecting what had occured, jumping so much that she nearly spilled her glass of wine on the floor. Amber’s mother’s reaction drew laughter from the room, each of the other women relieved, in a way, that they weren’t the recipient of the tickle.

“Oooh,” Aunt Becky said with a laugh. “Ticklish feet,” she pointed out. “That’s always been her weakness, ever since we were kids,” she said with a laugh. “That’s where you get it from, Amber,” she said, taking a sip of her own wine.

Amber’s head turned suddenly at the mention of her name. Really? Did Aunt Becky really need to remind everyone in the room that she was ticklish, too? The night had worked almost exactly as Amber had hoped, with someone else being the target of the first tickle attack. That usually meant that that person would be the preferred target for any future tickles in the evening. But now Aunt Becky had reminded everyone in the room that Amber was ticklish, too.

“Look who is talking!” Amber’s mom said with a laugh. “Steph, honey, you can thank your mom for your ticklish feet,” Amber’s mom said with a smirk. “The pedicure shops have your mom’s picture up in their office saying ‘Beware this woman and her ticklish feet’,” she laughed.

Now it was Stephanie’s turn to twirl her head quickly at the mention of her name, her cheeks now turning a bit red as her aunt said aloud how ticklish her feet were. Stephanie was at the weird age where, at eighteen, though she viewed being tickled by boys her age as flirtatious, she considered it somewhat childish to still be tickled by her family members. And though she may have considered it childish, she was powerless to do anything about it, a simple poke or swipe causing her to nearly jump out of her skin.

“Thanks,” Stephanie said. “Thanks for pointing that out, Auntie,” she said with a dry humor.

Amanda, sitting next to Stephanie, had formed a small smile across her face as the weaknesses of the other two girls in her age bracket were outted.

“Wait, you’re ticklish, too?” Amanda asked Stephanie, asking in a low voice, not wanting the entire room to hear her question.

“Well, yeah,” Stephanie said, wanting to deny it but knowing there was no point in doing so at this point.

“Oh sweetie,” Amber’s mother chimed in with glee, perhaps a sip or two of wine more than necessary causing this enjoyment in her voice. “Stephie’s so ticklish,” she continued. “She practically loses her mind if you even go anywhere near her feet,” she said with an exclamation.

“Oh my gosh,” Stephanie said under her breath, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment and thankful to all degrees that she had left her boots on when she came inside.

“That’s good to know,” Amanda said with a smile, elbowing Stephanie in the side.

“Oh, come on,” Aunt Becky chimed in. “Let’s present both sides of the argument here,” she continued. “What about your daughter? I’ve never seen someone laugh so much that she gives up in a tickle fight before the tickle fight even begins,” Aunt Becky pointed out, bringing up an embarrassing memory for Amber.

“Yeah, she is pretty ticklish, isn’t she?” Amber’s mother said, conceding the fact.

“Mom!” Amber yelled, upset that her mother wasn’t jumping to her defense like Aunt Becky had done for Stephanie.

“Well, I’m sorry, honey,” Amber’s mom said. “But you’ve got to admit you’ve got no defense against being tickled,” she said, taking another sip of wine. “Especially on your feet.”

“Wonder where she gets it from,” Amber’s father said, dragging another finger along the still-exposed nyloned sole poking out from Amber’s mother’s leg.

“JIM!!” Amber’s mother yelled, again caught off-guard by her husband’s sneaky touch. “You cut that out right now!” she admonished.

“HA!” Aunt Becky laughed, enjoying the spectacle in front of her. “See? She practically jumps out of her skin!”

“Oh, like you’d do any better,” Amber’s mom said to her sister.

“I like to think I would,” Aunt Becky said with confidence.

“Uh, Mom?” Stephanie said, speaking up from afar. “Didn’t you just a little while ago ask me for a foot rub and then say nevermind because you didn’t think you’d be able to handle anyone touching your feet tonight?” Stephanie said.

“Ooooh!” Amber’s mom said with glee as Aunt Becky’s mouth went agape. “See???”

“Yes, Stephanie, I may have said that,” Aunt Becky said, rather flustered. “But that wasn’t something you were supposed to tell everyone.”

“Amanda,” Amber’s father said. “I bet you had no idea you were getting involved in a family of women who have the world’s most ticklish feet,” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah, Amanda,” Amber said, realizing that everyone in the room had been outed at this point except for Amanda. “You’ll fit right in, huh?” she said with a smile.

Stephanie’s head twirled suddenly again, this time in the direction of Amanda. “You’re ticklish, too?” she asked.

“Well, uh,” Amanda said, at a loss for words. “I guess so?” she said, like Stephanie, knowing there was no use denying it.

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Amber said, not wanting Amanda to get off lightly. “I believe you used the term ‘deathly ticklish’ to describe yourself, no?”

“Really?” Stephanie asked, unable to hide the smile that was beaming on her face in finding out Amanda’s secret.

“Guilty,” Amanda said with a shrug of her shoulders, knowing that Amber had ample evidence to prove the point should she argue against it.

“Oh my gosh, I had no idea you were so ticklish,” Stephanie said, still beaming.

“Well while you women sort out your ticklish troubles, I’m going to go find out what the men are up to,” Amber’s father said, getting up from the couch and heading out of the room. “I’d leave your shoes on, sweetie,” he said to Amber as he was walking out. “Seems like it could get dangerous in here,” he said as he exited.

***

“So Maddy,” Meredith said, after the girls had been sitting around chatting for a while, “I hope you didn’t feel awkward when I asked you if you were wearing nylons earlier.”

“Oh,” Maddy said, a bit flustered, not expecting the topic of conversation to revert back to her nylons. “No, uh, not at all,” she lied, wanting to play it cool. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“OK, good,” Meredith said, not wanting her guests to be at ill-ease. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be wearing them under your jeans, and then I noticed you’ve been hiding your feet ever since I pointed it out,” she said.

Really? Maddy’s stomach again filled with butterflies. Had Meredith been watching Maddy, looking to see when she would expose her feet again? Had she been doing this since they walked into the apartment? Was that the reason she had asked Maddy and Melanie to remove their shoes? And worse, now, what should Maddy do? The truth was, of course, that she was very clearly trying to hide her feet from Meredith and Melanie, hoping that they would be out-of-sight and out-of-mind. But now Meredith had called her out on it, more or less… What was Maddy to do? She could either continue to keep her feet hidden, even after Meredith had pointed it out? But doing so would, of course, make it seem like there was an ulterior motive for Maddy’s hiding her feet. Or, of course, she could play it cool and sit naturally, leaving her feet out in the open. But that came with peril, as well.

“No, uh, my feet were just cold,” Maddy said, happy with the lie that she had been able to come up with on the spot and hopeful that that would put an end to the conversation about her nylons.

“I mean, I really do think it’s a super cute look,” Meredith said, clearly not interested in ending the conversation. “I actually have to wear pantyhose quite often for work, so a lot of times, I’ll just throw on a pair of jeans at the end of the day but just leave the nylons on to save time,” she said.

“Yeah, same here,” Maddy said, hoping that Meredith’s interest in the conversation was more rooted in fashion. “I actually got the idea from my neighbors. I saw they did that often so I started to, as well,” she said.

“Oh really?” Meredith said. “I got the idea from Mel over here.”

“Me?” Melanie asked, shocked to hear that she was the inspiration for Meredith’s fashion choices.

“Yeah,” Meredith explained. “You used to wear nylons under your jeans all the time,” she said. “Don’t you remember?”

“I mean, yeah, I remember,” Melanie said. “I just didn’t realize you ever noticed.”

“Are you kidding?” Meredith asked. “I thought it looked super cute,” she explained. “Maddy, let’s see,” she said, motioning to Maddy to show off her feet.

Maddy obliged, feeling like she had no choice. She pulled her feet out from under her and hoisted them in the air, showing them off to Melanie and Meredith.

“I don’t know,” Meredith said, not wanting to seem weird in front of her friends. “It’s just this perfect combination of casual and elegance,” she explained. “I just think it’s super cute, is all,” she said.

“So you’re saying I’m cute?” Maddy said with a snicker, searching for the gratuitous compliment from her friend.

“Well, yeah,” Meredith said with a laugh. “OK, maybe not when you were jumping out of your skin when Mel tickled you at the restaurant…” Meredith said with a smile.

Maddy turned red with embarrassment, not expecting her joking remark to return the conversation to Maddy being tickled earlier. “Yeah, yeah,” Maddy said lightly, not sure of what to say.

“I’m just kidding,” Meredith explained. “That was super cute, too.”

“Totally,” Melanie agreed, not wanting to remain silent for too long.

“I just can’t believe you’re still that ticklish,” Meredith said, clearly not giving up the conversation just yet.

“I wish I could say I wasn’t,” Maddy said, again not sure of what else to say.

“Do people know?” Meredith asked.

“What?” Maddy asked.

“Do people know you’re ticklish?” Meredith clarified. “Like, the people you hang out with now,” she explained further.

“Oh,” Maddy said, growing uneasier with the conversation by the second. She wanted more than anything to pull her feet back under her body again, to give them some sort of protection, but she knew doing so would be obvious. “Yeah, they know,” Maddy said, not wanting to offer more information than necessary.

“How’d they find out?” Meredith asked, grilling Maddy as if she were on the hot seat.

“I mean,” Maddy said, not sure how to answer that question. “They tickle me?” she said.

“Well, yeah,” Meredith said, knowing that was the obvious response. “But how did they first find out?”

“I don’t know,” Maddy said, squirming in her seat. “They just sort of tickled me. I was hanging out in their apartment one night and…”

“These are your neighbors?” Meredith asked for clarification.

“Yeah,” Maddy confirmed. “And I don’t know. I was just sitting there and one of them sort of reached over and tickled my foot.”

“Whoa!” Meredith said with a laugh. “They got your feet?” she asked, remembering how ticklish Maddy’s feet had always been and remembering that Maddy all but confirmed earlier that they were still her weakest spot. “You were barefoot over their apartment?”

“No,” Maddy said, the tempo of Meredith’s questions pulling Maddy deeper into the conversation. “I had nylons on,” Maddy said, quickly.

“SHUT UP” Meredith said with a laugh, jumping forward in her chair. “Your neighbors tickled your feet when you had nylons on?”

“Yeah…” Maddy said, not wanting to say more than that.

“Oh my gosh,” Meredith laughed. “What did you do??”

“I laughed?” Maddy said, not sure what Meredith wanted her to say.

“Well, obviously,” Meredith said, matter-of-factly. “I just mean, like, what did you do? Like, you couldn’t have been expecting them to tickle your foot when you had nylons on, right?”

“Oh,” Maddy said, Meredith’s fast-paced questions moving Maddy along. “Yeah, no I wasn’t expecting it at all. I, like, practically jumped off the couch,” Maddy said.

Meredith and Melanie both laughed, picturing their friend, still as ticklish as they remember, practically jumping off her neighbor’s couch at the slightest tickle.

“Now THAT is super cute,” Meredith said while laughing, clapping her hands.

“Come on, girls,” Maddy said, red with embarrassment again. “Don’t tell me you’re not ticklish. You would have jumped, too.”

“It had to be even worse because you had nylons on, right?” Melanie asked, pausing as the words exited her mouth.

“Why would you say that?” Meredith asked, looking at Melanie directly now.

Butterflies grew in Maddy’s stomach. There could only be one follow-up to Meredith’s question, and it was the one that Maddy feared the most. The only possible response Melanie could offer was that nylons make your feet more ticklish. Maddy knew it. She had a hunch that Meredith might have known it, but with her question, maybe she didn’t. But Melanie apparently knew it. And now the question hung out there, hovering over the three girls as they stared at each other. Maddy’s face was beet red, worried about what Melanie might say. Melanie, too, seemed flustered, not wanting to come out and say the actual words that Meredith, for her part, wanted to hear.

“Oh, nothing,” Melanie said, hoping Meredith would leave the question alone.

“No, what would make it worse?” Meredith asked again, not giving up.

“I just meant,” Melanie began, almost apologizing with her eyes as she looked at Maddy. “I just meant that nylons usually make people more ticklish, no?” she said lightly, clearly uneasy about saying it out loud.

“Is that true?” Meredith asked Maddy, directly.

“I mean, maybe,” Maddy said, wanting more than anything to not have to answer that question.

“Is it?” Meredith asked Melanie this time, looking for a more direct response from Melanie since she was the one who mentioned it in the first place.

Melanie nervously shook her head up and down to confirm that that was, indeed, the case. “I mean,” she said lightly, realizing Meredith was looking for more than just a head nod. “Anyone I’ve ever known has always been at least ten times as ticklish when they have nylons on versus when they don’t,” she explained, again trying to apologize to Maddy with her eyes.

Meredith looked at Maddy and smiled, unable to contain her glee at the sight of her vulnerable friend. “Ten times as ticklish?” Meredith repeated, as if emphasizing the point. Of course, she had known this before Melanie mentioned it. Any woman who had ever worn nylons and so much as walked on a living room carpet without shoes or socks over the nylons knew how tickly nylons made you.

Truth be told, Meredith had hoped that just such an opportunity would present itself when she met Maddy tonight and realized that her friend had nylons on. She hadn’t known how she could comfortably weave it into the conversation or the events of the evening without seeming awkward, but fortunately for Meredith, Melanie had handled all of that, not only tickling Maddy in the first place to remind everyone of Maddy’s weakness but also revealing to everyone just how vulnerable Maddy was with nothing but nylons covering her feet.

Maddy sat there like a deer in headlights, unsure of what her next move should be. It was all out in the open now, and Maddy felt as vulnerable as ever. She could kill Melanie for mentioning that. Wasn’t it enough to remind everyone that Maddy was ticklish in the first place? Did she also have to point out the glaring weakness that nylons added to Maddy’s already dire predicament? Now here she sat, her feet as ticklish as they could possibly be as a result of the earlier pedicure and the nylons she wore on her feet, with nothing to serve as protection from a seemingly would-be tickle-torture attack from Meredith.

***

Amber’s father may not have known how true his words were when he left the room. Things were about to get dangerous in that room, as two theaters of tickle war were building at a fevered pace. Amber’s mother and her Aunt Becky were trading barbs back and forth over which was more ticklish, and Stephanie and Amanda clearly had some unspoken rivalry that left both girls delighted to discover the others’ weakness.

“I’m not the one who just practically jumped out of my skin a second ago,” Aunty Becky said of Amber’s mother.

“That’s only because my shoes are off,” Amber’s mother said. “Take those boots off and we’ll see how confident you are,” she said.

“Oh you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Aunty Becky said, clearly having no intention of removing her boots and losing her only level of protection.

“Listen, deathly ticklish has to be more ticklish than I am,” Stephanie said to Amanda as the two girls were comparing their own ticklishness.

“You’re the one who freaks out when anyone even goes near her feet,” Amanda reminded Stephanie, reclaiming the advantage in their back-and-forth.

“At least I’m not deathly ticklish,” Stephanie said, continuing to use Amanda’s own words against her.

“I kind of think you are,” Amanda said, throwing it back in Stephanie’ face.

“Oh really?” Stephanie said, getting into an offensive stance. “Why don’t we see abo-”.

“NO, DON’T!” Amber’s mom screamed out, interrupting the back-and-forth between Stephanie and Amanda. While the younger generation were debating who was the more ticklish of the two, Amber’s Aunty Becky had waged a full-fledged tickle attack on Amber’s mom, grabbing at Amber’s mother’s ankle and pulling her down onto the floor in one fell swoop. With Amber’s mother prone on the floor, Aunty Becky had secured her ankle under her arm, effectively trapping Amber’s mother’s foot against Aunty Becky’s body.

“I’ve got you now!” Aunty Becky laughed as she struggled to keep Amber’s mother from wriggling free.

“This isn’t fair!” Amber’s mother screamed as she tried to pull herself free. “This isn’t fa-Ah Ah AH AH HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHA,” she said as she dissolved into hysterical laughter as her sister’s fingers began dancing across her trapped, vulnerable foot.

“What’s that?” Aunty Becky mocked, pleased with the control she was so easily able to gain. “I can’t understand you,” she laughed.

But it was already past the point of being able to form coherent words for Amber’s mother, as she twisted and turned, squirmed and flailed with whatever energy wasn’t being used to laugh as her sister so adroitly tickled away at the bottom of her foot. Amber’s mother began pounding her hand against the living room floor, signifying her submission, but Becky showed no remorse, never once slowing her attack against Amber’s mother’s trapped foot. The room was filled with the maniacal cackles of Amber’s mother as she fought, valiantly but futily, against the ticklish touches of her sister.

“Oh my gosh, my mom’s got her good,” Stephanie said, pulled away from her debate with Amanda for the moment. “Aunty is losing her mind.”

“It’s got to be the nylons,” Amanda said, also in awe at how ticklish Amber’s mother could possibly be.

“What do you mean?” Stephanie asked.

“Nylons,” Amanda said. “They just make people more -” she said, pausing. “Ticklish.”

Amanda looked at Amber. What had Amber’s father said? Amber should keep her shoes on? Now, why on Earth would Amber’s father have said that? Unless, of course…

“What?” Amber asked, not liking how Amanda was looking directly at her.

“Amber, I’m curious,” Amanda said, now moving closer to Amber’s chair. “Why is it that your father told you that you better keep your shoes on?”

“What?” Amber asked, not at all liking where this was going. “How am I supposed to know?”

“What do you mean?” Stephanie asked, not sure where Amanda was going with this.

“I know for a fact that nylons can cause people to become insanely ticklish,” Amanda began. “And I also know for a fact that Amber over here wears nylons almost every single day of her life.”

“REALLY???” Stephanie asked, turning to look at Amber, too.

“Yup,” Amanda said, still moving closer to Amber’s chair. “And I’m willing to bet that if we removed Amber’s boots here, we’d find a pair of nylons ourselves,” she said.

“Oh my word, I would LOVE that,” Stephanie said with glee. “You have no idea how much she used to torture me with tickling growing up.”

“You used to get me, too!” Amber said, not wanting Stephanie to rewrite history.

“Yeah, but nowhere near as bad as you got me,” Stephanie corrected.

“What do you say we form a truce of our own right now,” Amanada offered to Stephanie, “and we find out what exactly is under those boots of Amber’s.”

“Deal,” Stephanie said with a smile.

“AMBER, HELP!!!” Amber’s mother screamed as she continued to struggle against the nonstop tickle attack from Becky.

“Kinda got my own thing going on here, Mom,” Amber said nervously, pulling her feet up to her body to protect them.

“GET HER!” Amanda and Stephanie shouted in unison, each grabbing at a leg of Amber. Before long, Amber, too, was on the living room floor, Amanda clutching one ankle under her arm and Stephanie clutching the other.

“What are we going to find in here?” Amanda teased, knocking on Amber’s booties.

“Nothing!” Amber protested. “Leave them alone.” She tried to pull her legs free, but it was no use. Even though she owned the slight age advantage on her two would-be tormentors, it was two against one; Amber stood no chance.

“Shall we find out?” Amanda asked Stephanie as the two began unzipping Amber’s boots. Amber fought to keep her ankle booties on as long as she could. She had hoped that the fact that they were too small for her feet might make it a bit more difficult for Amanda and Stephanie to remove them, that maybe they might give up their pursuit if they faced the challenge. But, just as the nylons on Amanda’s feet were about to betray her by magnifying how ticklish each touch would surely feel, so, too, did the nylons betray her in the boot removal process, as their slipper nature made it easy for Stephanie and Amanda to pull right off of Amber’s feet. In no time, the one layer of protection each foot had had against its captor was removed, and Amanda and Stephanie both looked back at Amber as she realized her fate.

***

“You know, Maddy,” Meredith said, the smile still plastered on her face from when Melanie made her statement. “They say it’s better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission,” she said.

“Huh?” Maddy asked, confused by what Meredith meant. “Beg for forgiveness for what?” she asked.

“For this!” Meredith shouted, and with a leap, she pounced on Maddy, pulling her down from her chair and dragging her onto the floor. Maddy fought like a gazelle trying to escape its hunter, trying in vain to grab onto a chair leg, anything, for leverage and to free herself from Meredith’s clutches. But Meredith was swift and, in short order, had Maddy’s right leg pressed against the floor, unable to move away. With a quick re-positioning, Meredith now found herself face-to-face with Maddy’s exposed - and ticklish - sole.

“Meredith, don’t! Please!” begged Maddy as she fought to free herself.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Meredith said, getting herself into a comfortable position. “Now I’m too curious to see what ten times as ticklish looks like on you.”

Meredith deposited all five fingers of her free hand directly onto the middle of Maddy’s arch at once, not wasting any time with a slow build up or anything. Meredith’s fingers danced atop the nylon-covered arch, tormenting it with their tender touches. Maddy’s body spasmed at first touch and she unleashed a torrent of hysterical laughter from her mouth as her body registered the ticklish touches.

“Oh my gosh,” Meredith laughed, struggling to keep hold of her friend’s captive foot. “You’re even more ticklish than I remember!” she laughed as she watched Maddy fight with all she had to try to free herself from her captivity.

Maddy couldn’t even respond, for she was so consumed with laughter already that she had been rendered all but helpless. So many variables were working together against Maddy to make this an absolute worst-case scenario for her: the pedicure that she had endured earlier that afternoon, the nylons that adorned her tender soles at the moment, and lastly Meredith’s own fingernails, fresh with a new coat of acrylics over them. There was nothing sensuous about this tickle like there usually was when Katy was involved; this was pure abject tickle torture at its worst.

“You have to help me keep her under control,” Meredith said to Melanie, motioning her to come down to the floor, as well, to try to prevent Maddy from flopping around so much - but out of fear that Maddy may injure herself and also to make it easier for Meredith to tickle Maddy.

Melanie acquiesced, albeit a little reluctantly, and let her perch atop the love seat and made her way to the living room floor, where she tried to wrestle a writhing Maddy in place as Meredith requested. Indeed, Maddy was flopping around like a fish out of water - well, as much as she could with one of her ankles firmly pinned under Meredith’s armpit - and Melanie used all her might to corral Maddy, wrapping her own legs around Maddy’s midsection to help hold her in place for Meredith.

Her target now more prone for the attack, Meredith was able to dive in with a ferocious tickle assault, dancing all of her fingers along the nyloned-sole that she held captive. Maddy was in hysterics, laughing uncontrollably as each touch produced a sensation more ticklish than the last.

“Stop, please!” Maddy begged, trying to get the words out amidst her frantic laughter. “Mel, let go!” she urged, her words lost among the laughter, not landing in her captors’ ears.

Meredith smiled with elation as she saw her friend quickly losing all control against her dancing fingers. Maddy had always been ticklish. Had always been incredibly ticklish. And using Maddy’s ticklishness against her was always something that Meredith had enjoyed back in their youth. Finding out secrets. Getting Maddy to do her dirty work. Getting Maddy to pay for the pizza. Anything that could be gained out of having such an advantage over a friend, Meredith was up for gaining.

Not to say that Meredith wasn’t ticklish herself, of course. Naturally she was. She was desperately ticklish, as a matter of fact. But perhaps it was the result of being the youngest of four sisters growing up, but Meredith had always been able to put on more of a defensive front, to recognize when she was making herself vulnerable and avoid that situation. Like this situation, for example… Meredith would never have just left her feet within striking distance of someone like Maddy had done, certainly not when the topic of those very feet being ticklish was at hand. Thus, despite always being just as ticklish as Maddy - truth be told, both then and now - Meredith was always at an advantage over her friend.

And Maddy was suffering from that disadvantage mightily at the moment, using all of her strength to try to pull her trapped ankle free from Meredith’s ticklish clutches. Each finger that made contact with Maddy’s ticklish sole, though, sapped more and more of that energy until finally Maddy’s body was squirming around more as a reactionary device against being tickled than any type of coordinated effort. Maddy’s eyes were pressed shut, her cheeks beet red, as the laughter continued to roll from deep within.

Melanie, though undoubtedly having the more physical job of the two at the time, found merriment in her friend’s peril, as well. Like Meredith, Melanie always enjoyed having a ticklish friend around - though not necessarily for extracting secrets from or getting them to pay for pizza or anything of the like, but rather just for the sheer silliness of the fact. That Maddy, a grown woman despite being in her twenties, could be rendered so helpless from something as simple as tickling was beyond cute to Melanie. That Maddy could be in her twenties like she is now, in her teens like she was back in high school, or even in single digits like she was before Melanie met her, and yet still have the same reaction to someone stroking her fingers along the bottom of Maddy’s foot simply exuded cuteness to Melanie.

Of course, to Maddy at the moment, none of this was cute, as she thrashed the air to and fro trying to fight off the ticklish assault on her vulnerable feet. Sure, she and Katy had teased each other to some degree with tickling, but that was something different altogether. This was a far more intense tickle, a tickle that produced no butterflies or stars or anything of the like. This was a tickle that produced only laughter - an endless supply of laughter. Tears streamed down Maddy’s face as the tickling consumed her.

As Maddy’s energy level sapped, Melanie’s task of keeping Maddy in line was made easier and easier, and eventually, Melanie was able to confidently secure Maddy in place, Melanie’s legs still wrapped around Maddy’s torso and her arms holding Maddy’s upper extremities in place. Melanie soon noticed that all of Maddy’s twisting and turning had caused Maddy’s blouse to rise up a smidge, a tan line of skin now peeking out between the top of Maddy’s jeans and the bottom of her blouse. The sight of that bare skin was far too enticing for Melanie, so confident that she had Maddy under control, she snaked one of her hands down Maddy’s side, Melanie’s fingers landing on the exposed skin of Maddy.

Maddy wasn’t expecting the dual attack, and her body lurched forward away from the new ticklish touch. Of course, there was little place to go, as Meredith securely held Maddy’s ankle in place and Melanie had her legs wrapped around Maddy’s torso. Thus, Maddy could do nothing but laugh and flail as she fought against this new tickle attack. And what a ticklish attack it was, too. If already the feeling of Meredith’s fingernails dancing around the bottom of her foot wasn’t enough to send her overboard, now she had to contend with Melanie’s fingers tracing along the bare skin of her side. As tickle fights go, Maddy was in as bad a spot as one could be.

Melanie smiled as her fingers tortured that delicate strip of bare skin, strumming at the flesh as if it were guitar strings. Drunk on the power of tickling her friend, Melanie explored more ticklish spots, driving her fingers into Maddy’s underarms now, inflicting even more tickle damage to her friend.

Maddy jumped, her body reacting on instinct alone as it tried to free itself from the ticklish onslaught it was enduring. Maddy’s body twisted and turned, contorted and buckled, anything to try to get away from even one finger, to have one less finger sending her body into ticklish sensory overload. Meredith held on to her ankle tightly as Maddy rolled around, Melanie doing the same to Maddy’s upper body. Eventually, Maddy’s body stopped its contortion and paused in one spot.

Now, Maddy and Melanie looked more like a pretzel, their combined legs and arms and torsos all twisted together. Indeed, Maddy had essentially rolled over on her stomach, as best she could, but in doing so, because Melanie’s legs were wrapped around Maddy’s torso, Melanie rolled over, as well, so that she now was laying on top of Maddy. The girls’ legs - well, Melanie’s legs and Maddy’s one free leg - were twisted together under Maddy’s body, Maddy’s free leg on top of Melanie’s left leg, pressing it down to the floor. Maddy’s right leg still trapped under Meredith’s underarm and Melanie’s right leg had ended up to Meredith’s left, so that she was essentially spread-eagle, more or less. Thus, with Melanie’s left leg held down by Maddy’s left leg and Melanie’s right leg stretched out to the opposite side of Meredith, Melanie’s lower body was essentially prone, unable to move. Melanie’s upper body, also, was capable of only continuing its tickle assault on Maddy’s underarms, as the weight of Maddy’s body was holding them in place, as well.

Meredith was happy that Maddy’s movement was over and that she hadn’t lost possession of her prized item, Maddy’s ticklish foot. She continued her assault on the vulnerable extremity, calculating her touches to ensure that the nylons amplified the ticklish touch as much as possible. Meredith surveyed the scene as she continued to tickle, checking to see where everyone had landed following Maddy’s paroxysm. Meredith looked down to the ground to her right and couldn’t help but smile at her discovery.

There, to Meredith’s right, were two legs, both Maddy’s and Melanie’s right legs. Maddy’s was on top of Melanie’s, and was as expected - a pair of jeans with a foot covered in nylons peeking out from the end. It was the sight of Melanie’s leg that drew the smile on Meredith’s face. As expected, Meredith saw Melanie’s jeans and her white ankle socks. However, all of the twisting and turning had resulted in Melanie’s white ankle socks no longer covering the cuff of Melanie’s jeans; instead, Melanie’s jeans had ridden up a hair and her ankle socks had slouched down a little. It was a relatively inconsequential result of Melanie and Maddy rolling around the floor, except for the fact that it meant that now Melanie’s ankle was exposed, where it had been hidden earlier. And it was what Meredith saw on Melanie’s ankle that had drawn the smile to her face.

Nylons.

‘That little sneak,’ Meredith thought to herself. What was it Melanie had said? Nylons made everyone Melanie knows at least ten times as ticklish? Surely Melanie must be speaking from personal experience, as well. And here she was, all the willing to let poor Maddy be the only one to suffer from this tickle assault when Melanie was just as vulnerable, sneakily trying to hide the fact that she was wearing nylons with her socks. Meredith’s mind got to work and began to formulate a new plan.

***

“Oh my gosh,” Stephanie said with delight as she looked at Amber’s not exposed feet. “She IS wearing nylons!”

“I figured she was,” Amanda said with a smile. “Are you ready to have some fun?” she asked Stephanie.

“Girls, no,” Amber begged. “Please don’t do this,” she urged, trying in desperation to free herself from their clutches. If she could just free one leg, then perhaps she could use it to aid in freeing the other. But there was no use. Amanada and Stephanie held her tight and there was nowhere for Amber to go.

“You’ve never tickled her feet when she had nylons on?” Amanda asked Stephanie.

“No, I don’t think so,” Stephanie said, unsure of whether she had or not.

“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” Amanda said, laughing, noting the irony that she herself was in Stephanie’s position of having no idea of the effect that nylons could have on a pair of ticklish feet just a short while ago, as well.

Stephanie dragged a single finger down Amber’s foot, causing Amber to almost jump off of the floor.

“No way!” Stephanie shouted with joy.

“Stephanie, please,” Amber begged, somewhat embarrassed to be reduced to such a helpless state against two younger girls.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Stephanie said as she unleashed a full tickle attack on the bottom of Amber’s foot, sending her into instant hysterics. Amanda followed suit, not showing any sympathy to her ticklish friend, dancing all of her own fingers on Amber’s foot that was in her possession.

Amber was going crazy with laughter, the combined sound of her laughter and her mother’s laughter deafening the room. The irony of this was not lost on Amber, even as she was laughing her head off; all night long, she had looked forward to removing her boots, to giving her feet a chance to flex outside of those confining shoes, but this was not the means in which she had envisioned. Yes, her toes were free to curl and flex as they wished, but Amber hadn’t planned on them curling and flexing against the ticklish touches of ten fingers dancing across their bottoms.

Amber’s mother, meanwhile, had suffered a head start in her tickle assault and was in a far worse spot than her daughter, falling in and out of silent laughter as her younger sister had her way with her sensitive soles. Amber’s mother tried begging, tried pleading, but couldn’t get the words out; heck, she could hardly even get the laughter out at this stage. Her sister knew her weaknesses and was not above using them against her.

“Like mother, like daughter,” Becky teased as she continued her assault on her older sister. Though they were no longer teenagers or even college-aged, Becky still enjoyed nothing more than unleashing a good, old-fashioned tickle torture attack on her older sister. Having been the recipient of many a tickle attack in her own right when they were growing up, Becky was all the willing to cash in her receipts even now, later in life. Clearly her sister’s ticklishness hadn’t waned; if anything, as she wore nylons more often now than she did when she was younger, her ticklishness had increased, if anything. And certainly so, too, had her vulnerability. To Becky, her sister had these tickle attacks coming.

Amber’s mother, of course, hated more than anything that Becky knew about nylons. Already considered ticklish enough to be at a disadvantage on a good day, Amber’s mother had known for quite some time that having nylons on her feet just made any tickling an unfair fight. It was bad enough that her husband Jim and her daughter Amber loved to take advantage of this unfair weakness against her whenever they had the chance, but she at least had some leverage against the two of them; a knowing glare to her husband to warn him to stop and the knowledge that her daughter was just as, if not more, ticklish as she was to use against - especially now that Amber had taken to wearing nylons with great frequency, as well. But she had no such power over her sister. No glare would ever dissuade Becky from tickling; if anything, in fact, it would only encourage her. And though Becky was ticklish enough in her own right, she was also more adept at the tickle fight element of it.

And it was instances like this that drove Amber’s mother the most crazy. Yes, she admittedly did not come well-prepared for a tickle fight - removing one’s shoes at the door when all one has on one’ feet is nylons is not the smartest move in the world - but it wasn’t as if Becky wasn’t nearly as vulnerable as she was. Becky was wearing pantyhose just like she was; she had just left her gosh darn boots on. And oh how mom has always hated it when Becky leaves shoes on in her house! Had Becky complied with the house rules, she, too, would be just as vulnerable, a vulnerability that may have made her think twice about starting anything tickling-related.

Of course, Becky wasn’t as safe as she thought she was, for all of the commotion of Amber and her mother laughing had captured the interest of Jim, who had returned to the room, this time from the opposite door, to see what was going on. Sure enough, as he expected based on the sound of the laughter, he found his wife and his daughter both losing their minds laughing as their ticklers had their way with their exposed feet. Naturally, as the only male in the house, Jim had extensive knowledge of the ticklishness that his two female co-inhabitants shared and had long ago learned of the “magic” that nylons had on both women, as well.

But in his time in the family, Jim had also learned of something else - how ticklish his sister-in-law Becky was. Also, how rare it was to get Becky in an extremely vulnerable position, as she was tonight wearing pantyhose. Jim also realized how he could earn some major brownie points with his wife by coming to her aid, especially since he had, essentially, got the ball rolling earlier. The gears started turning in Jim’s head as he crept up behind Becy and grabbed her leg from behind, clamping it down under his arm.

“What? Jim, no!” Becky yelled, realizing that she had been captured. She tugged and pulled, trying to free her foot from Jim’s grasp, but Jim was far too strong for her.

“Thank you!” Amber’s mother yelled through her laughter, finally able to get a reprieve from being tickled as Becky had gone on the defensive once her own ankle was in peril.

“Now, now, Becky,” Jim said, admonishing his sister-in-law as she fought with the zipper on the side of her boots. “People in glass houses and everything…” he said with a chuckle as he pulled the zipper down the length of Becky’s calf.

“Jim, don’t you dare take off my boots,” Becky urged. “I swear you’ll be in so much trouble,” she warned.

“Honey,” Jim asked his wife, addressing Becky’s threat. “Would I be in trouble if I took off Becky’s boot here?”.

“You’ll be in trouble if you don’t!” Amber’s mother yelled, now almost entirely free from her sister’s clutches.

“Stephanie,” Jim asked Becky’s daughter. “You wouldn’t mind if I took off your mother’s boot to see how ticklish she is, too, would you?”

“Be my guest,” Stephanie said, not pausing in her own continued tickle attack of Amber.

“Stephanie!” Becky screamed, shocked that her own daughter would betray her in such a way.

“Here, let me see that,” Amber’s mother said to her husband Jim, as she was now free of Becky’s grip entirely and able to move to the offensive. She pulled at the boot, knowing her husband would be far too clumsy - far too much a man - to know how to remove a knee-high boot without ripping the pantyhose that she wanted so much to maintain. In a short moment, Becky’s boot was off and her own exposed, nylon-covered foot stuck out under Jim’s arm for all to see.

“Come on, I’m sorry,” Becky pleaded, realizing the peril that she was in. “It was all in good fun,” she continued. “Jim, be a dear and let me go and I’ll help you tickle Stephanie to free your daughter.”

“MOM!” Stephanie yelled, now her turn to be in disbelief that she would be sold out so easily.

“Oh no,” Amber’s mother said. “You’re not buying him like that,” she warned. “He’s going to do my dirty work and then we’ll rescue Amber,” she said, depositing all ten of her freshly manicured fingernails onto the bottom of her sister’s vulnerable foot at once.

Becky’s body shot as though it had been electrocuted, her head falling back as laughter rolled out of her mouth uncontrollably from the first moment that the ticklish touches were registered by her body. The tickling had instantly consumed her, her feet even more ticklish than with just the nylons as they were warmer from being in the boots for so long. Becky’s body spasmed as it fought against the tickling, albeit to no avail.

“Holy cow, your mom is ticklish,” Amanda said to Stephanie.

“Oh yeah,” Stephanie said. “It’s pretty bad.”

“Nylons…” Amanda said with a chuckle as she and Stephanie watched Becky being double-teamed as they themselves double-teamed Amber.

Amber was becoming hoarse from all of the laughter. There didn’t appear to be any reprieve coming her way, as her mother and father were now more focused on tickling Becky than they were in saving their daughter. Not that she necessarily expected them to walk over and begin tickling Amanda, someone with whom they were not quite that familiar, but they surely could have come over and tickled Stephanie a bit to break it up, no?

Becky, meanwhile, seemed to be faring even worse than Amber’s mother had been against the ticklish assault; not that any of the women would have been described as having had any sort of success in fighting off the ticklish touches, but Becky had fallen into hysteria seemingly much easier than Amber’s mother - maybe from the added sensitivity of her feet being in the boots for so long, maybe from the added feeling of being held down by Jim while Amber’s mother was free to tickle as she pleased… Whatever the reason, Becky was already begging for mercy, slamming her hand on the living room floor signifying that she was giving up against the tickle attack.

“Oh no,” Amber’s mother said back. “You’re not getting out of this that easily,” she said. “I thought I was going to pee myself from you tickling me. You need to feel the same,” she said with a cruel smile.

The constant twisting and turning had started to play havoc with Becky’s dress, which had begun to ride up considerably. No longer hanging just past her knees, it was now bunched up across her upper thighs, the squirming causing the near wardrobe-malfunction. Becky realized this as she felt the cool air on her upper legs and grabbed the sides of her dress with both hands, hoping to prevent it from riding up any more and giving everyone in the room a show.

“Stop, stop,” she begged through her laughter, now unable to fight or even tap out because her hands were so forcibly holding her dress in place.

“Jim, stay strong!” Amber’s mother warned, fearful that her husband might begin to show sympathy. “Remember, she’s the one who doesn’t like you watching The Three Stooges marathon on New Year’s Eve,” she reminded her husband.

“Oh yeah,” Jim said, remembering how Becky had always changed the channel on him every December 31st. “Well, Becky, since you won’t laugh with me then, have a laugh with me now, won’t you?” he said as began to tickle the underside of Becky’s knee.

Becky’s body began to buck, her torso contorting to try to free her knee from the new tickle attack. Though that bucking was designed to provide some relief against the tickling, it provided no such solace, as Jim had too strong a grip on Becky’s leg. In fact, if anything, not only hadn’t the bucking provided any relief from the tickling, it had also made the situation with Becky’s dress all the worse, as it had now ridden up slightly more so that Becky was right on the edge of a wardrobe malfunction. A small flap of dress material hung between Becky’s legs and was all that was currently serving to keep things a mystery, as it were.

“Please!” Becky screamed, realizing how close she was to inadvertently exposing herself to everyone in the room but not wanting to - and not being able to - actually announce it out loud. She held her dress with her dear life, sacrificing her body to the tickle attack in an effort to maintain any semblance of decency.

Amber’s mother looked over and saw how close her sister was to losing control of her dress and paused her tickling. Sure, tickling was fun and was a good-natured way of maintaining this sibling rivalry throughout the years, but she didn’t want to embarrass her sister, and certainly not in front of her son’s girlfriend Amanda.

Becky gasped for air as the tickling ceased, as she twisted her bottom to try to push the dress material as further down as it would go.

“Ready to admit defeat?” Amber’s mother asked, plainly.

“Oh my gosh, yes!” Becky said emphatically, wanting - no needing - more than anything the tickling to stop. “Anything! You win!”

“Nice,” Amber’s mother said with a smile. “And as a condition of your surrender,” she said, pausing for a moment for effect. “Now we all team up and tickle your daughter,” she said, looking over to Stephanie.

Stephanie froze, pausing her own tickling of Amber. Amanda paused, as well, looking at Stephanie. She had been intrigued by Stephanie’s ticklishness once it was muttered earlier and was hopeful she might be able to see it in full display sometime soon; she hadn’t imagined it would be tonight.

“Fine,” Becky said, selling out her daughter. “Get her shoes off,” she instructed.

“MOM!” Stephanie said, again unable to come to terms with her own mother selling her out so quickly.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Becky said as she got up and approached Stephanie. “You know how ticklish my feet are when I have nylons on,” she said, explaining why she was so quick to sell out her daughter.

“Come on, Mom,” Stephanie said as she backed up against the wall, trying to hide her feet under her body. “Aunty, no, don’t do this,” she begged. “AMANDAAAA!!!” she screamed as three women lunged, each targeting an area on Stephanie’s body as Becky reached down to grab at Stephanie’s feet to pull off her boots with an easy tug.

“Nylons…” Amanda said with a smile as she saw Stephanie’s eyes bug out of her head now that her boots were removed.

***

Meredith shifted her weight a little, lifting up her leg so that she was now straddling both Melanie and Maddy’s leg, each foot sticking out from between Meredith’s legs.

“What are you - “ Melanie began to ask, unable to turn to see what Meredith was up to behind her.

Butterflies began to swirl in Melanie’s stomach as she realized she felt cool air against her ankle. Could Meredith see? Did she know?

“You were absolutely right about nylons making her more ticklish, Mel,” Meredith said with a cheerful voice. “I’m just curious, though…”

“Yes?” Melanie asked, fearing what Meredith was going to ask.

“Did you know that from personal experience?” she asked, tugging at Melanie’s ankle sock to pull it off her foot, resulting now in two nylon-covered feet exposed, and vulnerable, between Meredith’s legs.

“MER, NO!” Melanie screamed, realizing her secret was out, that Meredith knew she also had nylons on under her jeans. “DO NOT TICKLE MY FEET!!” she yelled as forcefully as she could.

Maddy had no idea what was going on behind her; she was just happy to have a brief respite from the unrelenting tickle torture that she had endured all this time. She could tell Melane was panicking, and she could guess that Meredith had re-positioned herself in such a way that Melanie’s foot was now vulnerable to tickling, as well; she just had no idea that Melanie herself was also wearing pantyhose that evening.

“Tisk, tisk,” Meredith said, adjusting the seam of Melanie’s pantyhose across her toes as the latter squirmed her foot away from the former’s touch. “And to think, you were going to let Maddy take all of the tickling tonight,” she said. “Maddy, did you know Melanie is wearing nylons, too?”

“Really?” Maddy asked, not really sure what to say since she wasn’t really in a position to be able to take advantage of that fact.

“Indeed she is,” Meredith said, “I’m guessing pantyhose, too, since I don’t see any end to them by her shin,” Meredith said, analyzing Melanie’s legs. “Of course, this now begs the question for me…” she said, allowing her words to hang in the air.

“Yes?” Maddy asked.

“Which of you is more ticklish?” Meredith said with a smile as she danced her fingers from each hand on an exposed foot trapped between her legs.

Maddy and Melanie both reacted with a paroxysm of laughter, Meredith’s nails easily having their way with their prone, ticklish feet. The girls jostled to try to free themselves, but it was no use. Meredith’s weight was pushing down on Maddy’s leg, which in turn was pushing down on Melanie’s leg. Melanie’s foot, especially, could do nothing, unable to even twist or turn out of the way; it lay there as prone as could be. Maddy at least had a little movement in her ankle, though, of course, that movement offered no protection or reprieve whatsoever from Meredith’s fingers.

“Ooooh, you’re both so ticklish,” Meredith teased, having her way with both of her friends through the way of their ticklish feet.

Maddy fell back into deep laughter, having already endured enough tickling to last a lifetime.

Melanie, on the other hand, was beside herself, unable to come to terms with the predicament that she now found herself in. Indeed, it was a predicament of her own creation, for had she changed even just one thing about this evening, her current fate could have been entirely different. She didn’t need to wear pantyhose under jeans this evening; she just thought that they might both provide a little extra layer of warmth and perhaps an extra tug in her hips and thighs, to make the jeans maybe fit - and look - a little better. Then, she certainly didn’t need to tickle Maddy when she was returning from the restroom at the restaurant; it was just that seeing Maddy sitting there, with her sides completely exposed, reminded Melanie of how ticklish Maddy had been in high school and how cute it could be if Maddy were still as ticklish today as she was back then. Then, of course, she definitely didn’t need to mention out loud that wearing nylons makes people significantly more ticklish on their feet; it’s just that, again, Maddy’s vulnerability - and how cute it was - had gotten the better of Melanie, and yes, maybe a little bit of Melanie had hoped that Meredith would take advantage of that vulnerability of Maddy. And finally, no, she didn’t have to hop off the couch and help Meredith tickle Maddy; it’s just that, come on - honestly, how could anyone say no to something like that?

So now here she was, as a result of all of those things happening the way they did, completely trapped, unable to do anything except laugh as Meredith’s fingers danced their way across Melanie’s trapped sole.

“Should I do some testing?” Meredith asked, toying with her friends and enjoying the power she currently had over them. “Maddy?” she asked, drawing one finger down the bottom of Maddy’s foot and watching her jump in response. “Melanie?” she asked, doing the same now to Melanie. “Maddy? Melanie? Maddy? Melanie?” she repeated over and over, tracing along the bottom of each girl’s foot each time she said their name.

“OK, OK,” Maddy yelled through her laughter, her body totally spent from laughing as much as she said. “You can tell I’m ticklish!” she said.

“You’re right,” Meredith said. “I’ve got lots of evidence in your column,” she said. “As for you, Mel, I think I need more research,” she said with evil glee.

“NO!” Melanie shouted, realizing that now not only was the tickling about to start again, but that she would likely be the only target. Sure enough, her fears were proven accurate, as Meredith deposited all ten of her fingers onto Melanie’s exposed foot. With nowhere to go, Melanie’s body jolted as her body was once again overcome with laughter.

Maddy smiled as she caught her breath, happy that not only was she no longer the subject of the ticklish touches of Meredith’s dancing fingers but also happy to find out that perhaps she wasn’t the only one of the friends who was still dreadfully ticklish. It was clear, of course, that Melanie suffered the same weakness as Maddy, the howling laughter coming from the trapped friend above her all the evidence needed to come to that conclusion.

“Oh my gosh,” Meredith said as she watched Melanie succumbing to the laughter. “Maddy, I think Mel here might even be more ticklish than you are,” she said, wanting to drive the stake of competition between her two captives.

Melanie pounded at the floor, tapping out to show submission, but found no mercy from Meredith’s ticklish advances, her fingers showing they still had much more dancing to do atop her exposed foot. She hoped Meredith wouldn’t be providing commentary about how ticklish she was the entire time she was sending her into hysterics. Of course, Melanie was ticklish - insanely so. She always had been, even when growing up. She had often hoped that she would grow out of it - even if not entirely, then maybe just enough to be able to survive a pedicure without breaking out into laughter. All throughout her life, the people close to her had come to find out how ticklish Melanie was, and all of them were not above using that weakness of Melanie’s to their advantage. Friends, family, co-workers, significant others - inevitably, they’d all find out someway, somehow that Melanie was ticklish and their eyes would light up at that discovery. So it was not totally unexpected for one of Meredith or Maddy to re-discover how ticklish their friend was this evening.

But these darn pantyhose that Melanie had on completely changed the game for her. Melanie’s feet had always been her most ticklish spot to begin with. Summer months spent mostly barefoot, a pair of socks not even coming out of Melanie’s dresser drawers between the months of May and September, were always fraught with ticklish escapades, her friends and family all too happy to take advantage of Melanie’s weakness being completely exposed and vulnerable at all times. But pantyhose were a different story entirely. Pantyhose took an already excessively ticklish spot and amplified its ticklishness to the n-th degree, making it almost impossible to get through day-to-day life without something tickling the bottom of her feet. Walking on a carpet in nylons without shoes on, the fibers of the carpet brushing up against the bottom of Melanie’s foot with each step? Risky. Sitting under a blanket in nylons without shoes on, the edge of the blanket possibly brushing up against those feet? Risky. Even wearing some shoes, depending on where the show material rested against the nylons covering her foot? Risky. In short, Melanie was utterly defenseless against any and all tickles on her feet when she had nylons on, and this scenario - one in which she was trapped with no way out - was her worst nightmare.

“I GIVE! I GIVE!!!” Melanie shouted as she gasped for breath through her laughter, making the choice to get the words out in search for mercy rather than pull in more air. She simply couldn’t take it; the tickling was too much, more than she could handle.

“What did you say?” Meredith asked, pausing her tickling, a bit shocked to hear her friend so emphatically give up.

“I give!’ Melanie repeated, wanting more than anything for her ordeal to be over. “Please! I’ll admit I’m more ticklish! I’m sorry, Maddy! Just please, no more tickling!” she begged.

“Sounds like we have a winner,” Meredith said, as if officiating an official contest.

“Woowoo!” Maddy mock-cheered, happy both that the tickling appeared to be over and that she had somehow seemingly won the contest.

“Any words from the winner, Maddy?” Meredith asked, looking back at her two exhausted friends.

“Just that..” she started, stopping as she once again felt Meredith’s finger on the bottom of her foot. “Just that I always knew that ha… ha ha ha ha…. hard work and perse… ha ha ha ha… hard work and persev… hahahahahaha.” Maddy said, breaking up in laughter as she tried to get the words out. “Nooooo,” she begged now, the laughter pouring out continuously. “Stop tickling my foot. I won!”

Sneakily, Meredith had indeed started tickling Maddy’s foot again once she had started talking, the effect of Meredith’s one finger slowly dragging up and down the bottom of Maddy’s foot clearly being too much for her friend to handle.

“We’re in Judge’s Review right now,” Meredith said with a laugh.

“NOOOO!” Maddy pleaded, completely devastated by the fact that not only did she think she had won this pseudo-contest but now the tickling had targeted her once again. “Stop! I was the winner!!!” she begged through laughter.

“Hmmm,” Meredith said, as if in deep thought. “Don’t really seem like much of a winner now, do you?” she asked, amping up her tickling from just the one finger to a full tickle attack.

“OH MY GODDDD!” Maddy screamed as the laughter completely took over her body. “I GIVE!!! PLEASE!!!!”

“What’s that now?” Meredith asked, pausing her tickling one again to get a full confession from Maddy.

“I said I give,” Maddy repeated. “Please Meredith,” she begged, hoping for any kind of mercy. “I’m way too ticklish for this. Especially my feet,” she said, knowing she was revealing her weakness but also knowing that her weakness had already been fully exposed.

“I guess you’re right,” Meredith said with a sigh. “You’re both pretty deathly ticklish,” she said, emphasizing the words deathly ticklish to drive home the point as she got up, freeing Maddy and Melanie for the first time in what seemed like forever.

Both girls released a huge sigh, happy that their tickle torture had come to an end for the night.

“Oh my gosh that was awful,” both Maddy and Melanie said at the same time.

“I don’t know,” Meredith said as she tossed the pillows back up on the couch. “I thought it was kind of fun,” she said with a laugh. “I guess it was just my luck you both chose to wear nylons tonight,” she said.

***

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Katy had fallen asleep on the couch, unable to get a hold of anyone in the absence of her friends, not having any idea what either of them had been going through