* * * * *

After school we decided to try Flat-Out Fitness, the health club our server Quinn had recommended at the restaurant. The place wasn't large but it was clean and all the equipment seemed to be new or well-maintained. In accordance with the club's name everything was flat: all the members, all the workers, all the equipment. Floor-to-ceiling windows provided open views in or out.

"Hi, are you new?" the flat behind the front desk greeted us.

"Uh, yeah, just last Saturday," Charlie explained.

"Sorry, I meant new to the club, which I guess you are. My name's Peyton. Are you here for the free trial?"

"I guess. A restaurant server named Quinn recommended you. I mean the club," Therese volunteered.

"Oh yes, I know Quinn very well. I'll have to thank her. Care to check your bags?"

"Can't we just put them in our lockers?" Rhonda asked.

"We don't have lockers. In fact, we don't have a locker room," Peyton explained.

"Isn't there even a washroom?" Seth inquired.

"Oh sure, over there," Payton explained and pointed, "but it doesn't have any lockers. There's just a row of sinks, a row of toilets, and a bank of showerheads in the corner."

"Just the one?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, that's all we need. Now, would you like to check your bags?"

We did, and Peyton gave us each a wrist tag to claim them later.

"Now, what would you like to try first? Upper body? Lower body? Massage? Tanning perhaps? You seem to have a lot of lines."

The tanning process was selective. Basically, they rubbed in sunblock anywhere we were tan, and then focused ultraviolet lights anywhere we weren't. Peyton warned us, however, that the results were far from immediate.

The club had only four tanning stations, so Bess and I volunteered to wait. While the others got zapped, Peyton helped us try a variety of exercise equipment. It was weird pulling ropes, riding stationary bikes, and lifting weights naked in full view of everyone, but at least they had towels to prevent chafing. Occasionally we had to wait in line for something, but the other flats didn't seem to talk much. I guess they were thinking about their routines.

Bess actually did better than I did but after half an hour we were both sore.

"Don't worry, that's normal," Peyton assured us. "It just means you had a good workout."

By then I felt I knew Peyton a little better, so I asked, "Where did all these flats come from? I can see most of them are fully adapted, but I certainly haven't seen them around town before this week."

"Most of us moved in from other states," he explained, "but it's hard to be the only flat in town. People stare, you know?"

Believe me, I knew.

"So most of us wore clothes away from home, no matter how uncomfortable they seemed. Now, of course, the clinic is open and more flats are starting to show up. It's a relief."

Was that really possible? If I had the chance to wear clothes again and hide my flatness, would I really be uncomfortable doing that? I was getting used to my new condition, though�

By then the others were done with their tanning and it was our turn. A flat named Yarden vigorously rubbed plenty of sunscreen into our tan areas, perhaps taking a little longer than really needed, and then he helped us lay down to bake. We took a double.

"This place is freaky," I ventured to Bess.

"No freakier than us," she replied.

"Flats aren't freaks," said a voice to our right, and then I looked over to find its origin.

"Hi. My name's Val," the same voice stated from across the walkway. Its owner was a flat, well-tanned, well-muscled adult with blonde hair. "Are you kids new?"

"Yes," I answered simply, because either interpretation was correct.

"Well, I know it can seem uncomfortable at first, but I'm sure you'll eventually enjoy being flat. Almost everyone does. When did you turn?"

"Last weekend. Our parents caught us having a sex party."

"Yeah, that happens," Val empathized, "but now you can have all the parties you want."

"Except sex parties," I moaned.

"That what they say, but you can still have feel-good parties, and there are no messy bodily fluids to clean up. Have you tried one?"

"No, we've just been sleeping together," Bess confided.

"The two of you?"

"Yeah, but our brothers and sisters as well. It's OK with our parents now."

"Well, of course it is," came the response, but then the timer beeped and Val had to leave.

"Wanna roll around? It might be fun with all this gook on us," I suggested to Bess.

"Naw, that would just spread it onto our pale parts," she replied, and so we confined ourselves to slow idle touching.

On the way out we reclaimed our bags. In addition, Peyton gave each of us a flyer with the current rates. Family memberships were two hundred flat.

* * * * *

After dinner we considered going to the football game, but it seemed a little chilly for that. We were all getting used to being naked, but not that much.

Instead, Rhonda and I went to see a couple of friends named Yaz and Zane. We knew they were both intact, so we called ahead to see we could come over, and they seemed to have no problem with it.

Zane's mother answered the door and instantly went ballistic. Where were our clothes? Our parents got rid of them. Where were our sex organs? Our parents got rid of them. Why in the world would they do that? We were having a sex party. Dear, Rhonda and Andy are mixed up with sex parties! I'm not sure either of you should come around here again.

Zane's dad was a bit shaken up too, but he reacted better than his wife. "I heard about this. It's a new thing: crazy, but new. And don't worry; their days of getting into sex trouble are over."

"Um, we kinda forgot you guys were flat," stated Yaz, who came to see what the fuss was about.

"Yeah, we were gonna hit the arcade," Zane explained.

"So? We can do that," Rhonda stated.

"Like that?" he responded.

"We do everything like this. Thanks to our parents, it's all we've got," I stated.

"Yeah, but people might think we're gonna�" Yaz complained.

"Maybe you should. It'd sure easy my mind and keep you two out of trouble," Zane's mom suggested, after which Yaz and Zane both rushed out of the room. We were right behind and jumped into the car before they could leave.

* * * * *

When we arrived at the arcade it was chilly outside but packed inside. People bumped into us constantly except for Yaz and Zane, who drifted away. I tried convincing myself the place was just crowded, and that no one was feeling me up.

For a while I hopefully tried various virtual reality games. Unfortunately, none of them made me feel that I had a dick and balls again. At least facing the game hid my lack of those from the passing crowd. I was still naked though, and because of that they surely knew I was flat. Screw them, I thought, despite the impossibility.

After a while something seemed missing, and it wasn't my stuff. Remarkably, I was getting used to that. No, this was something else. No one was interrupting me and asking the usual dumb questions. Then some other flats showed up.

There were five of them, one couple and one group of three, and they all looked new. I dropped my game and headed over to where they were congregating. Rhonda was heading in from another direction.

"Hi, I'm Andy and this is my friend Rhonda," I greeted the flat couple.

"Thanks, it's good to have company," answered one of the threesome. "My name's Jaden and my friends here are Kasey and Harley."

"I'm Mel and this is Logan," added one of the couple.

Judging from their breasts and hair styles, Jaden, Mel, and Logan had all been girls. Kasey and Harley looked more like guys. To be sure, I stated as much.

"I suppose you're new, "Mel stated, "but I guess it's not polite to ask. We're just flat now."

"Where'd you hear that?" Rhonda asked.

"We looked at ourselves in a mirror," Jaden replied.

"No, I mean about not asking," Rhonda explained.

"I came across a list of do's and don'ts on the Internet," said Mel. "Also, like, don't deliberately rub against intacts, keep clean, and don't ask for towels everywhere you go."

The five of them, meanwhile, had formed most of a circle, holding each other's sides, butts, and shoulders. Rhonda and I completed the last arc. Stares from onlookers increased an order of magnitude.

"What do you say when people ask?" I answered.

"We've got it down to one-word answers. Parents. Sex. No," Logan contributed.

"You don't feel freaky?" Rhonda wondered aloud.

"Less and less would be three words," Logan stated. "Anyway, why admit anything? It's better to keep a good front."

After that came a hundred more questions, some of which we asked of them and about half as many they of us. Do you feel cold? What did your friends say? Are they still friends? Do you ride a school bus? Have you pissed on any assholes? Which washroom do you use? Anybody else you know? Why them? What school do you go to? How many other flats go there? Where have you gone out in public? What have the cops said? Are those your original names? What are you doing the rest of the night?

"We heard there was supposed to be a band here," Harley explained. "We thought maybe there's be a mosh pit."

"Why? Aren't you sort of moshing around anyway?" Rhonda asked.

"Oh, sure, but some of our parents are sticking with the old rules," Jaden explained.

"That sucks," I sympathized. "My folks are OK with anything now, and we have these friends across the street, the Williams, and their parents are the same. We've been sleeping over and mixing it up."

"Yeah? You're lucky. Well, look, there's no sign of a band. Afterward we were going over to this hangout called Gila Flats. It's gotten to be sort of a meeting place. You wanna go there now?"

We did, and even though the five of them had come in one car, all seven of us somehow managed to squeeze in. Jaden ended up sitting her naked butt on my lap.

* * * * *

The scene at Gila Flats was nothing but flat. The place had obviously been there for years, and the Mexican food wasn't that great, but I guess the name was attracting a new clientele. Even the workers were flat.

"It's easier to get through immigration," Mel explained, noticing my interest.

"Where were all these people a month ago?" I wondered.

"I guess some were sneaking around in clothes, but most are new," Jaden said. "When they hauled me into Liberty Clinic, the place was packed."

The place had Latin music piped in, and several couples were dancing to it. Some were grinding. It didn't matter, apparently, what their former sex had been.

"I didn't realize there were this many flats in town," said Rhonda after a moment's pause.

"There's more every day," Harley stated grimly. "It's a one-way street. There's sure no way to get unflattened."

"Strap-ons," Jaden suggested.

"Bogus," Mel remarked, and then the two of them began some serious groping.

* * * * *

It was both comforting and scary to see so many flats in one place. The comforting part was commiserating. The scary part was how common it'd become in such a short time.

OK, I suppose a few dozen flats out of the whole town and surrounding area wasn't such a high percentage. Nevertheless, stories abounded.

A bunch of guys got caught speeding and the cops thought flattening would slow them down. A girl snuck into the boys' room because she had to go and the girls' room had a long line. A guy got caught feeling panties in a department store. A girl got it because her mother suspected something with her new husband. A whole family got it because they believed the world was ending in a couple of years. A pair of frustrated teenaged lovers got it so they could live together. Food service workers were under special pressure because it brought in customers and seemed more sanitary.

For a while Harley, Jaden, Kasey, Logan, Mel, Sandra and I changed partners every so while. Occasionally other flats joined us as well. Sometimes we danced, sometimes we stayed in the booth and necked, and sometimes we went into secluded corners. Outside was a little chilly. Our new friends eventually got their mosh pit.

At eleven thirty we all left because Harley, Kasey, and Logan had midnight curfews, and because neither Sandra nor I had driven. Mel and I slept together at my house. Rhonda rode off with the others. Bess and Charlie were out somewhere. Mom looked in and offered Mel a clean pillowcase.