Chapter 4

On that Friday, after the kids had all gone home, Harold found me. Looking around conspiratorially, he told me about a party planned for late that night at the pool. There was going to be booze and everybody was going to go skinny-dipping.

"Bill will shit if he gets wind of this," I warned him.

"That's why we're keeping it quiet. I heard Bill is going home this weekend. So how about it? Are you and Patrice coming?"

"I don't know if she'd go for a party that wild but I'll ask and let you know."

"Cool. I'll check with you later," he said, and took off.

I found Patrice carrying sheets to the laundry. She greeted me with a big smile and I took her bundle from her.

"Want to go to a party tonight?" I asked.

"Sure. Where?"

"At the pool after dark," I told her. "There will be lots of alcohol, and we'll all go swimming by moonlight."

"That sounds like fun," she said as we reached the Quonset hut that served as the camp laundry.

"What sounds like fun?" Abby asked. She was coming out as we walked in.

"A party," Patrice said.

"Uh, it's a secret, uh, from the administration," I hedged. I hadn't meant for Abby to hear about it.

"Why?" Patrice asked. "They know we drink on the weekends."

I blushed as I pulled the girls aside, away from the door in case someone else passed by.

"We're going to go skinny-dipping in the pool tonight," I whispered.

"Really?" Patrice said, surprised but with a sly smile on her face. She put her hand on my cheek. "Sounds like fun." Then, looking at Abby, the smile disappeared as she continued, "but maybe not tonight."

"Why not? It sounds like fun. What time does it start?" Abby asked.

Both of our mouths dropped open.

"Abby, I mean we're not going to be wearing bathing suits. Nobody is," I told her.

"I understood that. What time?" she asked, smiling broadly.

"Abby?" Patrice whispered.

"Look, Trip left me and I think it was because I wasn't adventurous enough. If I'm going to change, I need to do something wild. I'm going. Are you?"

I just kept looking from one to the other of them, still holding the bundle of sheets. Patrice looked at me and grinned.

"I guess we are. What time, Tim?"

I shook my head in disbelief.

I ran into Harold later and told him we were coming. All three of us.

"Three? You, Patrice and who?" Then he thought a moment and, with a look of surprise on his face, "Not Miss Goody Two Shoes?"

"Her name is Abby, Harold, and yes, she's coming."

"Does she know what skinny-dipping means?"

"Yes, she does. Just have lots of wine coolers. The girls like those more than beer."

I gave him some money to help pay for the booze and told him we'd be there about a half hour after dark.

Those of us who were planning to attend the party ate at the dining hall. Harold and a few other guys had hauled in a few ice chests of drinks. Bill had left earlier in the afternoon as expected. We did blowouts like this every year—and it was always fun—but they were done in secrecy and attended by a small group of counselors. Doing it at the pool this year was different. Skinny-dipping was a first.

I was hanging around with the girls, helping them finish a few tasks in their bunkhouse, and waiting for the time to go to the party.

"Are you sure about this, Abby?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I need a chance to get wild and unwind."

Patrice and I exchanged raised eyebrows.

"I can be wild," Abby said, but her tone seemed to be a question more so than a statement.

I looked at my watch.

"Okay, time to go," I announced.

Taking Patrice by the hand, we started out. Abby came around the other side and linked her arm in mine. The three of us marched across the camp. I did notice that Abby's grip on my arm tightened a little as we got closer to the pool.

From a distance, the pool looked like nothing much was going on. There were a few small lights on and the gate was open. The chain and padlock hung from the fence. As we approached, the background sound of the crickets was pierced by the soft murmurs of conversation. Two ice chests were beside the pool. Six couples were sitting on the side of the pool, still wearing shorts and shirts, and dangling their legs in the water.

"See. I told you," Harold said to the others as he saw us coming in. His speech was slightly slurred like someone who had already had a few beers since dinner.

"Hi, everybody," Abby said, erasing any doubt that it was really her.

It was pretty dark around the pool. I got a beer and handed the girls each a wine cooler. A few of the others were staring at Abby.

She kicked off her shoes, sat down, and saw that she was the center of attention—a quiet and stunned attention.

"What?" she asked.

"I just can't believe you came," Melanie said.

"Yeah, you do know what we're going to do, right?" Greg asked.

Abby took a long sip from her wine cooler.

"Yes, I do," she said with a smile. Then she took a deep breath. She tried to sound confident with her next statement but I knew her well enough to hear the tiny tremor in her voice.

"Who wants to go swimming?"

The question hung in the air. It wasn't that we weren't going to do it. Everyone was just shocked that Abby said it. I looked at Patrice. She just stared back. I didn't want Abby to get any more scared than she already was. If she was going to go through with this, I was going to stand at her side. I stood up.

"I do," I said as I pulled my shirt over my head and kicked off my shoes.

Patrice must have been having the same thoughts because she stood up, too. After I tossed my shirt aside, I looked at the others. No one was moving.

"Well, are we going to do this or not?" I asked the assembled group.

Harold grinned and took off his shirt. Before he could stand, Abby said, "Yes," but it was so soft that I barely heard her. She reached for the hem of her polo shirt with two trembling hands and lifted, revealing her white bra in the near darkness. Her shirt came off and floated ethereally to the concrete deck

That was what broke the stillness. Nobody believed Abby was really going through with it. Once she started, everybody began shedding clothes. Giggles and laughs filtered through the group as we undressed. It was surreal. Girls I had admired all summer were revealing the bodies I had wondered about. I was reaching for the waistband of my underwear when I realized that I had a hardon. When I removed this last piece of clothes, everybody was going to see it. I felt myself blush. I saw Patrice nervously stepping out of her panties and thought, What the hell? I pushed down and my cock sprang free into the night air.

Splashes and cheers erupted as people jumped in. I grabbed Patrice's hand and looked for Abby. Finding her naked and looking more nervous now, I took her hand and we stood at the edge of the pool.

"One, two, three," I called and we jumped in together.

Had I just done that? Had Patrice just done that? The feel of her slick body against mine as she hugged me told me she had. More importantly, had Abby just done that?

Patrice wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her lips to mine, giving me a fierce French kiss. My cock throbbed in appreciation. I opened my eyes as our lips separated and I was rewarded with a sultry smile from my girlfriend.

I looked around and found Abby bobbing in the water, drinking from her bottle. Her blond hair, a little darker now that it was wet, sparkled in the dim light. Abby swam over and joined us.

"This is fun!" she said.

A few of the other girls cheered at her words. We swam around, we played silly games, we had a raucous time while alcohol kept our inhibitions at bay. In time, things slowed down and we ended up at the shallow end of the pool, everybody with a bottle in hand, just talking. The obvious question came up almost immediately.

"Abby, what made you do this?"

It was Melanie, again, who asked. Abby drained her drink.

"Someone get me another of these, please?" she asked. "Before I think about what I'm doing?" One of the guys dragged the ice chest over to the pool and handed her one.

"It sounded like fun." Abby had our attention now. "You don't think this is the first time I've been nude in a social setting, do you?" Her choice of words sounded unfamiliar, yet she herself sounded like she was familiar with doing this. Her statement stunned us all. This was not the Abby we thought we knew. She quickly drank nearly half of the bottle, perhaps to muster her courage.

"You all know my boyfriend broke up with me last weekend, right?" Nods all around. It was hard to miss her depression, and bad news traveled fast in Camp Kisatchie. "He wouldn't tell me why. Well, not really. He said it was because of him but I did a lot of thinking this week A lot of thinking and a lot of crying. I finally figured out that it was because I wasn't wild enough for him. I'm always too reserved. I don't take chances. I decided I was never going to let someone say that about me again. When a chance comes, I'm going to take it."

"Don't go overboard, honey," one of the girls suggested.

"Let her do whatever she wants to," a guy said. "Ready for another wine cooler?"

His comments made everyone laugh. When the laughter died, Patrice spoke up.

"What did you mean when you said 'this wasn't the first time'?"

Abby smiled. We were all kneeling or sitting in the shallow water, in a kind of circle. Abby was next to Patrice and me, but in front, like she was in the middle of the circle. She started to tell us a story.

"At the end of last semester, we had this party, just four of us. My boyfriend and me, and my roommate and her boyfriend. We're all very good friends. Our other suitemates had already left for the summer so it was just Kendall and me in the apartment. We got together for dinner at this nice Italian restaurant, and we drank a lot of wine with dinner."

Abby giggled at the memory and she had our complete attention.

"Anyway, after dinner, we all went back to our place. The guys were up to something but I couldn't figure it out until they started talking about it being hot and wanting to get comfortable—without their clothes."

If Abby hadn't had all our attention before, she would have had it now. We couldn't wait to hear more, but the most amazing part was that it was coming from sweet, innocent Abby's mouth.

"I knew my roommate and her boyfriend were... I mean, I knew they were having sex and all, so they had seen each other without clothes. Trip and I were together, too, but I had never gotten undressed in front of Paul before. They all talked me into it, even Kendall. When Trip kissed me on my neck and behind my ear, I just couldn't resist. Before I knew what was happening, we were letting the guys take our dresses off. It was really strange, standing there with her boyfriend staring at my body. I felt so self conscious, but having Kendall there and naked too helped a lot."

She paused and took another sip of wine cooler, but no one said anything. Still in shock, we all had to hear the rest of the story. No one even wanted to interrupt to ask a question.

"So Kendall and I were standing there in the living room, wearing, well," she giggled, "what we're all wearing now. We were waiting for the guys to take their clothes off. Actually, I wanted to rip Trip's clothes off, but he took Paul into the kitchen to 'ask him a question' at that moment. I wanted to scream. Kendall and I were standing there, facing each other, while the guys talked and laughed in the kitchen. I started to reach for my panties but Kendall stopped me with a look. She told me to wait a little longer so I did. Then she sat down on the couch and I did, too. Boy, did the couch feel funny against my bottom without any clothes on."

That got a few snickers from her listeners.

"Finally, the guys came back. Kendall asked them what they were doing and Paul told her they were discussing something that came up. Trip and Kendall started laughing at that. It took me a minute to realize what had come up," she said, raising her eyebrows and using an index finger to demonstrate. We all laughed and she even blushed a little.

"I was so embarrassed when I finally caught on that I hid my face. When I looked up again, the guys finally took their clothes off. When they did, they both looked pretty good."

One of the girls finally broke the silence of the audience by asking, "Were they both..." and she made the same motion with her finger that Abby had.

Abby blushed, laughed, and said, "Oh, yeah." We all joined in with her laughter.

"So what happened next?"

"Well, then they opened some more sparkling wine. They sat on the floor next to us, with their things sticking out and Trip asked me what we should talk about. I was finally drunk enough to—and I think the only way I'm telling this story now is because I'm drunk—answer that we should talk about the first thing that comes up. That got everybody laughing and relaxed.

"It was a little while longer before I was drunk enough to sneak a look at Paul's—and it looked pretty good, too—and the guys got relaxed enough that they weren't as, well," and she straightened her index finger again, shrugging her shoulders and getting everybody laughing.

"As the evening wore on, we ended up sitting in the guys' laps and making out. Things really heated up, though, so we each took our guy to our bedroom for the night. We had a hot time that night. From the sounds coming from Kendall's room, they did, too."

"And?" Melanie asked.

"And what?" Abby said after another swig from her bottle.

"What next? No group sex on the living room floor? No swapping partners?"

Abby blushed mightily. "Goodness, no. The night was wild, not sick."

"Well, I'm impressed. Surprised, amazed, even, but impressed. I think this was Trip's loss, Abby," I told her.

A chorus of, "Here, here," rose as bottles were lifted in Abby's direction.

"Yeah, maybe," she said, her words now slurring a little from all she had drunk. "Now I'm a free woman," she said, leaning back against the side of the pool.

There was silence for a few minutes. Only the sound of the ripples in the water disturbed the silence.

"It will be tough to top that story," Fred finally said.

He was right. We talked about a few things, but no one had anything to top the impact of Abby's story. We had seen another side of her that night. We drank, we swam, and in time we got out of the pool and got dressed.

It was fun watching the girls get dressed. They probably enjoyed watching us dress, too. For Patrice's sake, I tried not to be too obvious about looking, and it was kind of dark. When we were dressed, I walked the girls back to their bunkhouse.

"Why don't you two stay together tonight," Abby suggested to us. "I'll be alright by myself."

"We can't," I said. "Jim is staying here this weekend."

Abby smiled as she said, "You two can have the bedroom. I'll sleep in one of the bunk beds. I'll pull the sheets off my bed."

Patrice started to protest but Abby cut her off by putting a hand on her arm. Patrice hugged Abby and thanked her.

"We'll try to keep the noise down," I said with a smile.

Patrice gave me a hard look. Abby just giggled.

"It's okay. I know what you're going to be doing. Don't worry about me," Abby said.

She gathered up some things and left, closing the door behind her. From beyond the door, she called back, "I'll be sleeping at the other end of the room."

We both laughed at that.

"Well, I guess we won't surprise her if we're noisy," I said.

Patrice started to answer me but stopped. Instead she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight embrace, slipping her tongue into my mouth. We tried to make our way onto the bed without separating our lips. We almost made it but fell onto the mattress just as we got to the edge. The bed slammed against the wall with a bang.

"I heard that!" called Abby from a distance.

We pulled apart, laughing. We undressed, turned out the light and got into bed. I was settling down with my face between Patrice's thighs when she spoke up.

"I feel funny doing this with her being all alone out there," Patrice said.

"Do you want me to go ask her to join us?" I joked.

"Don't be gross, Tim," she told me.

I knew it was a long shot. I buried my face in my girlfriend's lap and soon she forgot all about poor lonely Abby.

I woke up the next morning to the feel of Patrice's naked body laid across mine. I already sported a woody before I even became fully aware of her presence. I enjoyed lying there, feeling her body against mine and listening to her breathing. As I waited for her to wake up, I thought about our relationship. The end of the summer was coming. When we went home, we would have a long distance relationship, much like the failed one Abby had with Trip. I was going to make a quick visit home before coming back for the start of school. Patrice was going home to Shreveport before also going back to school. It would be hard to manage to see each other very often. As I thought about that, I felt a tear escape my eye.

I blinked but the tears just kept coming. I was determined not to let Patrice see me upset. I knew she was only barely managing to keep her emotions beneath the surface. I gently moved one arm to wipe away my tears with my hand but the motion woke her.

"Mmm, this is so nice, waking up next to you," she said in a sleepy voice.

She moved the leg that was draped across my thighs and encountered my erection.

"Someone is ready to play," she said, eliciting a jerk from my cock. "Yes, very ready," she cooed. Her hand moved down to stroke me and she never noticed I had been crying.

I rolled her over to her side and began sucking on one of her nipples, keeping my face out of sight a little longer. Before long, I leaned over and retrieved the box of condoms she now kept in the drawer of her nightstand. I put one on as she watched in wet fascination. She was on her back, I was kneeling in front of her, and she was placing her legs on my shoulders. I looked down at her pussy, framed with dark hair in the early morning light. It was a lovely sight indeed. Holding my stiff shaft in my right hand, I rubbed the head up and down through her curly hair. I smiled when I could see her pussy getting even wetter in reaction to the stimulation.

"Are you ever going to stick that thing in me?" she asked, exasperated.

I gave her a Who me? look. Without saying a word, I leaned forward on my dick's next trip down her lips. At the bottom, I felt my dick spread her rubbery inner lips. Her ample juices lubricated my penetration of her body and she sighed loudly. I did it in one motion, not stopping until I was fully inside her body. Catching on to the clues that she was ready for an intense fucking, I grabbed an ankle in each hand, held her legs in front of me, and relentlessly pounded into her body. Neither of us cared that Abby was in the building. Patrice moaned out loud, I called out her name, and the bedsprings squeaked loudly in protest. The bed even started to slide a little across the floor in time to my thrusts.

I made sure Patrice had one really good orgasm before I slowed down, letting her legs slide apart to either side of me on the sheets. I leaned forward onto her and she welcomed me with open arms. We kissed deeply, still panting through our noses, as we slipped into a slow sensual rhythm. Unlike moments before, this was making love. We were savoring the contact between our bare bodies. I felt her second orgasm approaching and lifted myself up a little.

At the questioning look she gave me, I explained, "I want to watch you cum."

She blushed a little and started to protest. To stem her complaints, I changed the angle a little. I knew this would make my dick rub harder against her G spot. Her words died unspoken as cries of, "Tim," changed to moans.

I loved watching her in the throes of orgasm. That was when she was at her most beautiful. Though she might squint or have her eyes wide open, her mouth in the shape of an O in a silent scream or louder in a moan, I could see the pleasure she was feeling. It was hard to describe, but I could tell she was happy, peaceful, in ecstasy. I loved making her feel that way.

Seeing her cum, and feeling her spasm against my cock, drove me over the edge. I fell to her and reached beneath her. I desperately shoved my hands beneath her ass cheeks and grabbed, pulling myself as deeply into her as I could. One last look at that lovely face and I spurted, filling the condom that was the only thing separating Patrice from me. She smiled as she felt the warmth of my sperm entering her pussy.

We spent a few moments catching our breath before I got up to dispose of the used condom. She lay on her side, watching me.

"It looks sad," she observed.

I looked down at my flagging erection.

"No," I told her. "He's just basking in the afterglow."

We both chuckled at that as we got up and gathered things to take a shower together. We carried clothes and wrapped ourselves in towels. As I stepped out the door behind Patrice, I could see Abby at the far end of the room, sitting on her bed and smiling at us. She was still in her pajamas, a long pink t-shirt.

Patrice said to her, "I guess you heard some of that?"

Abby shook her head, grinning even broader.

"I heard all of that," she answered.

"We tried to be discreet," I offered.

"No, you didn't," Abby countered.

I just shrugged.

"We're going to take a shower," Patrice said.

"Sounds like a good idea," Abby answered. "I think I'll do that, too."

Patrice stopped short.

"Abby, Tim is going to be taking a shower, too."

Abby just smiled as she explained, "After last night, I don't think any of us has any secrets anymore."

"We had the door closed," Patrice told her.

I whispered, "Dear, I think she's talking about what we did at the swimming pool."

"Oh, yeah. God, I can't believe we actually did that."

Looking her friend right in the eye, Abby said, "It was wild, but looking back... I'm glad I did it."

Her words shocked me. I never thought I'd see Abby saying something like that.

"Abby?"

"No, Tim. The new Abby."

"The new Abby," I repeated. "Then come on and join us in the shower."

As we entered the big bathroom, Abby headed to the far end of the room, explaining, "I'm going to give you guys some space. I'm not ready to share that."

"Share what?" I innocently asked as I dropped my clothes on a bench and pulled on Patrice's towel.

The towel fell free leaving my girlfriend completely naked. It was apparent that she was still dripping from her orgasm and leaving a wet trail down one leg. Patrice squealed but made no effort to cover herself up. Instead, she let go of her things and grabbed for my towel. Before I could move, it was apparent to Abby that I was erect again.

Abby looked pointedly at my erection, said, "Nice," and spun around to turn on her shower.

Patrice pulled me to her as she turned on the water.

"You're mine. Don't forget it."

I pulled her naked body to mine and kissed her as we stepped under the warm stream of water. The water was flowing over us, enabling us to slide our bodies slickly against each other. We behaved ourselves for Abby's benefit. If she hadn't been there, I'm sure I would have needed to go back to the bedroom for another condom. Before long, we were all dried off and dressed.

As we headed out for breakfast a little later, I turned to Patrice's friend and said, "I think I like the new Abby."

The next week went much better for Abby. She was finally cheery again. The effect her upbeat mood had on Patrice was much to my benefit. Our worries over her roommate were over. She was getting on with her life, though without Trip. This was definitely his loss.

The plan for the next weekend was an overnight canoe trip for the counselors. Brian used these trips to explore new routes to use for the weekly trips with the campers. Patrice and I planned to go on this trip, mainly because without the kids along we could share a tent.

We got off the bus at a different place this time and unloaded the canoes from the trailer. As we were putting gear in the boats, I noticed something that I didn't expect. I grabbed Patrice's arm and pointed. Ricky, who had been pursuing Abby earlier in the summer, was loading her things along with his into a canoe. Patrice whispered that she'd explain later and left it at that.

We paddled off with Brian leading the way, Patrice in front of the canoe and me in the back. Abby and Ricky were similarly arranged and kept up with us as we headed downstream. Paddling this way made it easier to talk to Patrice but we couldn't look at each other. All I could see of her was the back of a t-shirt, and kissing was also out of the question as we were separated by our pile of camping gear.

It was slightly overcast and the forecast called for rain overnight. Still, it was fun exploring a new section of waterway. We all knew each other by now, with the summer almost over, and we chatted with each other as we paddled.

When we stopped for lunch, I took Patrice aside and told her how pleased I was to see Abby looking so happy.

"I noticed that, too. I just hope it isn't a rebound relationship. I tried to warn her but she brushed me off. I want her to be happy, too, but I hope she isn't sleeping with Ricky just to punish Trip," Patrice said.

"Sleep with Ricky?" I asked out loud.

Patrice desperately shushed me. "Who do you think she's sharing a tent with tonight?" she asked me.

I looked at her with wide-eyed surprise and she nodded.

"Damn," was all I could think of to say.

Soon after lunch we were back on the water. We wanted to be sure to reach the camping spot and setup the tents before the rain started. The sky got grayer but the rain held off just as the weatherman had promised. I tried to keep Patrice on my mind and not think about Abby but it was difficult. I liked Abby and I didn't want to see her do anything she'd regret the next day.

We reached our campsite early in the afternoon. With the rain still not yet falling, we unloaded the canoes and setup the tents. Bill had organized a group to get dinner going. He wanted it at least cooked before the rain started. It was one thing to eat dinner in a tent. Trying to cook in the rain would be something else entirely.

Dinner was a leisurely affair, hamburgers and beer. Someone had even thought to pack wine coolers for the girls who didn't like beer. Thoughts of what had happened the last time the girls drank wine coolers at night got my erection going. I didn't expect a repeat out here, but the memory was still exciting. I knew no one would be able to top Abby's story. I laughed at that thought.

"What's so funny?" Abby asked, sitting at Ricky's side.

"Oh, nothing," I hedged.

Patrice was no help as she goaded, "No, come one, something made you laugh."

I tried giving her a knowing look but she didn't catch it. Others were asking now and I was starting to get embarrassed.

"Tim's blushing," one of the other girls said. "It must be something really good."

At that, I really blushed, to the amusement of everyone else. Knowing I had no escape, I realized I had to come clean.

"I was just thinking," I said, taking a sip of beer for courage, "about what happened the last time we sat around drinking late at night."

"When was that?' someone asked, innocently. He hadn't been there that night.

I looked to Abby and she got a panicked look. I knew she realized what I was referring to. Patrice saw where my gaze was directed and looked at Abby. Then she caught on. Slowly, all those who had gone skinny-dipping that night got quiet. The ones who hadn't been there kept asking. Finally, one of them figured it out.

"Okay, what did you silent people do that we missed out on?"

We, the guilty ones, looked around at each other. Red faces were evident all around in the light of the fire. Finally, one of us spoke up.

"Well, we snuck into the pool late at night and..."

It was funny to watch. The ones not in the know were actually leaning forward, so eager to hear the rest.

"And... ?" one of them asked.

"We went skinny-dipping," someone else blurted out.

Half of the group were laughing, the other half (my half) were blushing.

Anxious to save the moment, or maybe just to redirect the scrutiny from most of us, another person said, "But you shoulda heard the story Abby told."

The alcohol was loosening tongues now. Still, I felt for Abby who was now the center of attention. Her face was red enough to illuminate the darkening night without the glow from the fire.