Chapter 17

July 2, 2017

Dear Ms. Diary,

Mom woke Rhee and me about 9:30. Once we had risen and brushed our teeth, we decided to pay the favor forward and went in to wake the other two. Though we might very well have pounced on them to wake them up, when we saw the tableau upon opening the door, we just stared.

I turned to Rhee. “Do you think that that’s what we look like? ‘Cause that’s awfully precious. Liya looks nearly angelic, not the usual manic, in-your-face Liya we’ve come to know and love.”

Without turning to me, she just nodded her head, but I could see the grin splitting her head. They were like two spoons in a drawer, with Gracey wrapped around Liya, facing the door.

“Do you think that we need a photo,” I asked.

This time, Rhee shook her head. She then advanced on the bed, squatted down and gently touched Liya’s forehead. In a quiet voice, she said, “Hey, angel, it’s time to get up,” and began stroking her head.

Liya slowly roused and, at first, looked a little confused when she saw that it was Rhee caressing her. Then it seemed obvious that she realized that there was someone else in bed with her. A person that was wrapped around her. From the looks of it, though, she quickly figured it all out and a dreamy smile replaced the slight confusion on her face. Liya then rolled partway over, which caused Gracey to rouse somewhat.

“Hey, bed partner, wakey wakey.”

Gracey looking groggy, cracked her eyes and eruditely said, “Huh? What?”

I could see her understanding of the situation arrive, as her eyes got a bit wide and she tensed. She immediately calmed, though, and then grinned.

“Well, except that it was too short, that was one of the better night’s sleep that I’ve gotten in a while. I can now see at least a bit of the attraction of marriage.”

She colored, as much as most medium-skinned Hispanics can, but we’ve gotten to know her quite well, so though the difference was slight, I recognized it.

“I mean ... umm ... I don’t know. Yes, I do. I suppose ... uh ... It’s nice waking up in the middle of the night and someone that you love is there to snuggle. Though, perhaps I wouldn’t have woken up twice if there weren’t someone else in the bed moving around and waking me.” She grinned widely and looked at Liya, then continued before Liya could respond. “Of course, falling back to sleep was easy, ‘cause I could just snuggle back up and be comfortable.

“You know. This time was different. How many times have we slept in the same bed, Liya? It’s a lot, or, relatively so. Four or five sleepovers a year with all four of us, plus the occasional night with one of us at each other’s house. We’ve always slept in shirts and undies and I was always a little bit ... umm ... not scared, certainly. Not even nervous, but, perhaps, a little trepidatious. I mean, sleeping with a guy might not have caused that. Or, at least, not that kind of trepidation. That’s a whole ‘nother animal, I would imagine. But, you know, sleeping with another girl, well, what would the neighbors say?

“No, the fact that we were naked made it easier, somehow. I mean, we wouldn’t be naked together unless we cared about each other, so ... Well, I guess I felt that since we were naked then it was okay to actually ... uh ... have our skin in contact. It was nice.” She then looked at Liya, saying, “Thanks for a very pleasant night.”

“You’re welcome and thank you.”

Gracey looked up. “Despite last night’s drama, this was the best sleepover EVER. I move that all future sleepovers ... well, at least those here at Beth’s house, as I don’t think that it would work elsewhere ... be naked sleepovers.”

Liya chimed in, “Second.”

Rhee followed with, “Hey, nothing changed for Beth and me. But I call for cloture.”

“Since this is my house, I assume leadership and close discussion. All in favor?” After the chorus of ‘aye’s, I continued, “I declare the motion passed by acclamation. All sleepovers in this house will henceforth be naked sleepovers.”

Rhee whapped me upside the head.

While I don’t think that it was the whap that joggled the memory, I did just happen to remember something that I had wanted to ask Rhee and Liya, but which got seriously side-tracked by Gracey’s revelation.

“Hey. I heard you talking, fairly loudly, downstairs last night. What was that about? I could hear you, but not well enough to understand the words.”

Rhee threw back her head and laughed. I glanced at Liya, who was looking a bit embarrassed, but turned back to Rhee when she started responding.

“We had just gotten to the fridge when your mom called out from the bedroom, curious about what we were doing. Had Liya been behind me, rather than by my side, she’d have bolted. But I grabbed her and then told your mom that we were just getting drinks as we’d forgotten to take some upstairs when we went. She said to help ourselves to whatever. The sort of odd thing was the weird way she said ‘whatever.’ And there was a slight pause before the ‘whatever.’”

I cocked my head and got a puzzled expression on my face and said, “Hmm.” I thought, ‘What, indeed, did Mom mean?’ Perhaps she was obliquely referring to the Irish cream, but I didn’t put much credence in that possibility. I shrugged internally.

“Hah. I can just imagine Liya in that situation, bolting out of the kitchen, giving my Dad a great view of that lovely backside in motion.”

As I was saying that, I turned my head to look at Liya. She definitely blushed, despite her darker complexion. Gracey and Rhee cackled!

After we had all showered and dried off (we ran two hair dryers on Rhee’s hair), Liya got serious again.

“Before we get dressed, I want to say one thing to all of you, something that Gracey’s revelation brought to the forefront of my mind. I want to tell each of you how thankful I am for your friendship, your powerful friendship. I think that I know where I was headed before I met you three. I was disillusioned and had nothing grounding my life after my parents divorced. I was angry, rebellious. You guys provided the needed grounding when my mother was emotionally incapable of providing such. I truly believe that you have saved me from a very different and very difficult future ... you guys, as well as your respective mothers and father, who were all quietly, but strongly, supportive of this mouthy girl who was too smart for her own britches.

“With Gracey’s comments about sleeping with each other in mind ... and, no, we didn’t do any sex things...,” the last was accompanied by Liya’s world-class smirk, “though, I might not be opposed to such ... Because I know where I might have been headed, I want to be sure that you guys know that I know it and, even more importantly, appreciate your, umm, intervention, let’s say. I also wanted to make sure that each of you, and all of you together, know that I’m serious about this.”

She then proceeded to hug each of us with typical Liya ferocity. Skin to skin. After partly releasing Gracey, who was the last to get crunched, she looked in Gracey’s eyes.

“Thanks for a wonderful night’s sleep. While I don’t recall waking once, I do recall a feeling of being loved and of comfort. And you know me, having slept with me on many occasions. I’m usually restless. Not waking up even once in six hours or so made my night much better than most. Thanks.”

Liya then hugged Gracey again.

After disengaging from Gracey, Liya then quipped, “You know, this nudity thing is somewhat liberating and a bit addictive. I could definitely envision a lot more of this. Do I have to get dressed?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rhee twitch a bit. In fact, I had to clamp my teeth together, as I had a powerful urge to mention the clothing policy at each of our houses. Rhee also managed to keep some of that behind her teeth but responded to Liya.

“No, you don’t. Of course, that action could get you a free orange jumpsuit. But, no, you needn’t get dressed.”

Three of us chuckled.

Rhee continued. “However, my house, which is nearly always all girls, has a clothing-optional policy when it is all girls. So, you’re welcome to hang at my place anytime you feel like chucking your clothes.”