Chapter 5

(Around Midnight)

"What's that out in the water?"

"Where?"

"Right out there," came the first voice.

"I don't see anything," chimed in a third person. This time the voice was female.

"Out THERE." The first voice was exasperated now. "Two dark objects."

"Yes, well, maybe," came yet another voice, this one also female and sounding quite dubious.

Normally these would have been a set of perfectly innocuous comments, certainly not ones that would make Pam MaGuire try to remain completely motionless except for the hand that grasped Kim McCall's outstretched one. The two girls both stopped breathing. After all, they both had the same thought. The nearly invisible persons seemed to be looking at THEM.

Of course it was dark, well after sunset. And the group of unknown people probably couldn't see very well. But when you are two college coeds who happen to be skinny-dipping in the ocean and you realize that an unknown group of people may have just caught you, you tend to remain very, very still and hope those people will go away.

Even under the circumstances Pam had to smother a giggle. When the two of them had talked about this that morning, getting caught had been the last thing on their minds...

(Earlier that same day)

The two girls sat on the steps of the wooden stairway leading down to the beach. The unpainted wood was silvery from exposure to the elements. Pam picked idly at the wood while Kim hugged her knees up under her chin and stared out at the horizon.

Pam smiled and slipped a little closer to her roommate. She whispered in Kim's ear. "Thinking about George?"

The black-haired cheerleader jumped, and then laughed. "Maybe a little bit. But you can't tell me that you were sorry to see Dennis or that you didn't have a good time last night. Even if it wasn't exactly what we had planned." Pam smiled and nodded her agreement and Pam continued. "Mostly I was thinking more about how much fun this two weeks has been and how sorry I will be to see it end."

Pam agreed. It had been great. They had swam in the ocean and sunbathed, partied and made love both to each other and to new friends and old ones. They both sported dark tans, uninterrupted by much in the way of tan lines. Pam's brown hair was streaked with the sunlight while Kim's remained defiantly black.

The house they had shared with eight other friends was half vacant now. Four of the other students had already left. Only David and his girlfriend Beth remained along with the two roommates. Pam was going to take Kim into the nearby city tomorrow so she could catch a flight to her home in Canada. After that the taller Southern girl would drive home other parent's place in Georgia.

Pam slid an arm around her shorter friend and hugged her. "Well, think of it this way. We have wonderful memories, it won't be that long till we meet again in the fall and," her green eyes twinkled, "We still have tonight."

Kim grinned at her friend and leaned against her. A hand dropped between them and Pam stiffened as fingertips danced up the inside of her thigh. "We do indeed," whispered the dark-haired cheerleader to her best friend.

The day slowly slipped away. The girls went over the house again, making sure it was sparkling clean. The next morning they would wash the bed lines and hang them out. Dave and Beth promised to make the beds before they dropped off the house key.

Finally the night arrived. Pleading tiredness, David and Beth retired early to their bedroom. Pam and Kim relaxed in the small living room, reading and softly recalling the pleasant evenings the entire group had spent in here. Pam had already carefully packed the recording Kim had made of all the songs in the musical "Once Upon a Mattress", from the spring theatre production that Pam had stared in that the entire group had sung and danced to the first night they were in the house.

Finally silvery light began to flood through the front windows and the girls grinned at each other. the moon was up. Slipping out the front door, they retrieved the blankets and towels previously stashed in the back seat of Pam's old Dodge Dart. They had their swim suits on under their shorts and tops, but Pam had already conceived an idea about those and had a wicked little grin on her face as the duo trotted down the steps they had sat on that morning.

Prior recon had led them to discover their present destination. A little crook of the shoreline had produced a hollow in the sand dunes. Just yards away from the high tide line, the snug hollow was out of the wind and protected from casual observation even during the day. The girls spreead the beach blanket they had brought and arranged the towels for their after swim drying off.

Kim pulled off her t-shirt and unfastened her jean shorts. She kicked them off, leaving her clad only in a blac bikini. The nearby rustling let her know her roommate was probably now in her equally skimpy red outfit. She turned and blinked.

Pam was out of her clothes. She was out of ALL her clothes. The moonlight shone on her tanned body, completely nude. White teeth gleamed as she grinned.

"What are you doing?" whispered Kim, even as Pam stepped up to her.

"We're alone," the taller girl said softly. Her hands slipped behind Kim's back and undid the ties she found there. "No one here on the beach but us." She pulled the black top down Kim's arms and tossed it onto her other clothing. "Come on, let's go skinny-dipping." The young athlete knelt and, as she had many times before with other bits of clothing, eased the tiny bottoms down her friend and lover's legs. Springing to her feet, Pam grabbed Kim's hand. "Come on!"

The two girls ran down to the water's edge. Foam swirled around their feet. Kim protested. "Its too cold!."

"As if that little outfit was going to keep you warm," Scoffed the other girl. She waded further into the water. "It will be fine once you get in."Suiting her words, Pam dove into the next breaker as it rolled towards the shore.

Kim set her teeth and waded out. As promised though, she found the water was warmer than the air temperature. Pam surfaced and rolled onto her back, swimming lazily parallel to the sand. Kim got her own wicked grin. With just her head showing, she waited till the other girl came by and pounced on her, ducking her into the salty sea water.

Pam came up sputtering. "You! You are going to pay for that!"

"You have to catch me," taunted Kim. She splashed through the water with her roommate in hot pursuit. Pam's longer legs carried her faster through the water. Kim headed away from the beach, wading into deeper water. Both girls laughed merrily.

Just when Pam was about to catch her friend, Kim suddenly looked shoreward and gasped. "Oh God."

"What?"

"Shhhhhh. Can't you hear?"

Pam strained her ears for a moment and then realized what Kim was whispering about. Voices floated along the beach, coming closer. The girls looked wildly around. Realizing that there was no time to dash back to the shore and certainly no place to hide behind in the water, they lowered themselves into the water until just their heads were above water. They bobbed lightly with the incoming waves and tried to stifle their breathing.

A group of indistinct shapes approached. Both girls in the water stopped breathing when one slowed and turned towards them. The conversation started about what could be in the water. For what seemed like at least an hour, but probably wasn't more than 30 seconds, the two girls remained as quiet as possible. Then the voice taht had first brought the group's attention to the surf spoke.

"I guess it doesn't matter. Let's go." The shapes resummed their movement down the beach. Finally they passed around a curve of the shoreline and faded away. The two girls ran up the beach and into the dunes, finding their blanket and clothes intact. The moment they looked at each other and heaved a shared sigh of relief they were caught by a giggle fit.