Chapter 1: Getting Ready for Camp

Thursday Afternoon, October 16th
As I approached the sparsely-filled classroom my eyes were drawn to Katie. Even though we'd been dating for over a year, my heart skipped a beat when she smiled over her shoulder at me. We were one of the few couples who made it through the summer. I'd like to think it was because of the incredibly tight bond we shared, but it probably had more to do with the fact that I was one of the few guys who would indulge her whims yet put her in her place if she took things too far. It made for a tumultuous relationship at times, but we made a good pair.

Darrell waved as I entered the room and took a seat next to Katie. While we'd done rodeo together and had both been on the Wrangler All-Star Team, it wasn't until I started dating Katie that I really got to know Darrell. We'd grown to be friends over the last year.

I glanced around and I was pleased to see so many familiar faces. Of the eight seniors invited to be Naturist School counselors, the only surprise was Julie Tsang, a tall Asian girl who was sitting slightly apart. I'd never had a class with her, but I'd heard she was wicked smart. I assumed she was at least 16 since she'd been invited to camp, but she looked more like a freshman than a senior.

The conversation was light as we waited for Mr. Johnson to show up. Of course Darrell had to flirt with Katie. It had become a game to see how many ways Katie could shoot him down while fawning over me. Today's taunting was particularly feisty as everyone was excited to be heading back to camp.

As a senior I didn't have any classes with Mr. Johnson and was surprised at just how haggard he looked. Not his usual chipper self, he seemed a bit off when he started his presentation, but soon warmed to the topic as he praised us for being selected as Naturist School Counselors and warned us of the challenges we'd face. His demeanor noticeably brightened when he started talking about camp, but there were times when his excitement felt forced.

It was unnerving how Julie kept staring at me. I tried to ignore her and focus on the lecture, but then I noticed that Katie seemed to be sizing her up. Normally I was the jealous one and, considering that I hadn't even spoken to Julie, it seemed odd. I shrugged it off as a girl thing until Mr. Johnson asked me to stay late.

Mr. Johnson closed the door after everyone else left and sat on one of the desks near me.

"I know this is a bit unusual, but would you be willing to partner up with Julie?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"I'd hoped to student teach with Katie..."

"Miss Romero has already requested that you and Julie be her assistants, but what I meant to ask is, would you be Julie's partner?"

"I thought only campers have partners?" I stammered, caught completely off guard.

"Normally that's true. But Julie skipped a couple grades and wasn't old enough to go last year. As a senior I'm not sure if she'd fit in as a camper and hoped you would be willing to help."

Working closely with a nude Miss Romero would be any guy's fantasy, but I was still wrapping my mind around the possibility of being Julie's partner. There was no question that Julie was cute, but I'd never considered dating an oriental, and there was one major problem.

"I think Katie would kill me."

"She seemed okay with it last year."

"We weren't dating last year."

"I'll understand if you refuse, but when I spoke to Katie yesterday she seemed open to the idea."

"You what?"

"Why don't you talk to Katie and then let me know your decision at Saturday's mentor workshop?"

"Um, okay," I agreed as I got up to leave.

I left the room in a daze and found Julie and Katie whispering in the hall. It was obvious what they were talking about as the conversation suddenly ended when they noticed me.

"Hey there, Chuck," Katie drawled, latching onto my arm. "Would you mind if Julie studied with us after school?"

This wasn't how I expected Katie to act, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get to know Julie better.

"Um, sure," I hedged, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

At this Julie visibly relaxed. "Thanks! I just need to grab some stuff from my locker. Want me to meet you in the parking lot?"

"Okay, do you need a ride?"

For some reason Katie and Julie found this hilarious.

"Not today," Julie winked. "I think I'll just follow your lead."

"I hope you can keep up," Katie teased cryptically as we headed off.

Living on a farm did have its privileges I mused as Katie and I waited in my truck for Julie to arrive. When the farm's pickup finally died last year I convinced my parents to get a Ford F250 Super Duty. We actually used it to haul the horses to shows so it didn't have a lift kit, but the massive diesel engine was impressive when it roared to life. Normally I'd peel out as we left school, but it was a gravel lot and I didn't want to damage Julie's car as she followed us.

Only seniors could use the limited student parking at Rosemount High, so I'd driven Katie and my sister Ali to school almost every day this year. With Ali's cheerleading practices/games and other social obligations (prom committee, yearbook... ) she usually found her own way home.

Katie was quivering with excitement and seemed genuinely eager to learn more about Julie.

"Alright, this is getting surreal." I sighed. I glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure Julie was behind us. "Why are you even considering Julie's offer?"

"Well, she's very convincing and I am kind of curious."

"Curious about what?"

"Nothing," she stammered.

We didn't have much of a commute, but Katie let the silence linger until we pulled onto the farm's half-mile long driveway.

"I think we should help her get used to camp," she announced.

"What'd you have in mind?"

"What if we studied in the nude?"

She jumped out of the truck before I could reply.

"Are you serious?" I called, chasing after her. We'd studied nude in the past, but never invited anyone to join us.

"This place is beautiful!" Julie exclaimed as she joined us on the front porch. "When Katie said you lived on a farm I assumed you lived way out in the country."

"You should have seen it five years ago," I lamented. "Everyone thought Mom was crazy when she suggested we move here. But it's only 16 miles from downtown and Mom really wanted to be closer to her clients, so we went along. It was only once we rebuilt the barn and added all the fencing for the horses that it started to look good."

"What does your mom do?"

"She's a veterinarian and works mainly with horses and cattle, so she was always driving out here to the ranches around here."

"Cool, so what were you guys arguing about?"

"We weren't arguing."

"Chuck doesn't want you to see him naked."

"That's not what I said!"

"I asked if you wanted to study in the nude..."

"Why would we study naked?" Julie asked, looking shocked.

"We're all going to be naked on Monday. Would you rather try being naked in front of just us or the entire camp?"

"Um," Julie gulped, "I guess it would be good to practice."

"See, I told you!" Katie smirked. "Come on, Chuck. Are you chicken?"

"No! You of all people should know I have no problem studying in the nude..."

"Then prove it."

"Here?"

"We can't even see your neighbors," she said, rolling her eyes.

Katie tended to become more demanding when nervous so I wasn't surprised by the way she was trying to control the situation. I hated caving quickly, but there was no sense arguing in front of Julie so I merely I stuck my tongue out at her and then efficiently got undressed.

"Happy?" I asked.

I was so distracted that I barely noticed Julie's stare. When I finally relaxed enough to realize that Julie was no longer meeting my eyes I decided to show off and flexed my muscles. Unlike last year, I no longer worried about being called 'Chuck the Chunk' or about getting burned in the sun. Katie had helped me 'get rid of my farmer's tan' over the summer, but mostly watched as I helped out around the farm. Part of the deal I'd made with my parents to buy a new truck was promising to muck the stalls and feed the horses every morning. While it didn't sound hard at the time, I soon learned that lugging bales of hay and feed around was a lot of work.

"Have you been going to the gym?" Julie asked.

"Gyms are for wusses," I smirked. "Real men earn their muscles, and there's plenty of heavy lifting when you live on a farm."

"You look good, but Katie was right, my cooter is cuter than yours," Julie teased, her eyes sparkling.

Katie's smile faltered at the way Julie was fawning over me, but she quickly reasserted her control.

"Yeah, I really like the new Chuck," Katie agreed, grabbing my hand. "Now let's head inside before you completely shrivel. I didn't realize it was so cold!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, quit pouting," Katie soothed as we entered the living room.

"Then quit acting like a bossy brat," I snapped.

"Sorry," Katie replied, slightly abashed by my anger. "You know I get catty when I'm nervous."

"Why are you nervous? I'm the one who's naked."

"I know and I really appreciate you being such a good sport," she soothed, rubbing my arm.

"I might be madly in love with you, but that doesn't mean you can boss me around."

"I know, and I promise to make it up to you later," she insisted. "Now, could you go get us some sweet tea so that Julie doesn't have to get undressed in front of you?"

There was something in Katie's look that caused me to pause. The last time Katie promised to make up after embarrassing me in public I nearly died the happiest man on earth. I wanted to stay angry, but there was also the added incentive that I'd soon be seeing Julie naked.

"Fine," I huffed. "But you better call your parents and tell them you'll be staying late."

Julie stifled a giggle when Katie meekly nodded. I tried to glare at her, but I really wasn't all that upset.

With a harrumph, I headed into the kitchen to grab some tea. Mom usually made a big vat of sun tea in the morning, so making sweet tea wasn't a problem, but I wasn't sure if Julie would like it. I looked for green tea, but couldn't find any.

When I returned I found the girls seated at the table with textbooks spread out around them. I tried not to stare, but Julie's breasts were barely bigger than Claire's and her nipples looked disproportionately large in their well defined, yet small, areolae. The more I tried not to look, the more fascinated I became and I was embarrassed to find myself growing erect.

"Care to join us?"

"I'd love to," I leered.

"Do you really like them?" Julie asked, glancing down. I noticed her hands twitch and I assumed she was fighting the urge to cover up.

"They're beautiful."

"I'd say you think they are more than just beautiful," Katie teased. "It's been months since you last got hard in public."

"You went nude over the summer?"

"Cedar Creek Naturist Park isn't too far from here and it's nice to hang out with other naturists," I explained as I set the tea down on the table.

"Huh, I'm still not sure of this whole naturist thing," Julie hedged, still struggling not to cover up. "It feels weird to be talking normally even though we're all naked."

"I had the same problem, but why should it matter if we're clothed or nude? And, if you do behave differently when clothed, which is the real you?"

"Alright, things are getting a little too deep," Katie interjected before sipping her tea. "This is good, thanks!"

"No problem." Turning to Julie, I apologized, "I checked, but couldn't find any green tea."

"Why would I want green tea?" she asked, perplexed.

"Um, isn't that what they drink in Asia?"

"Chuck!" Katie exclaimed, smacking my arm and flushing with embarrassment.

"What?"

"Maybe in East Asia," Julie huffed. "But my parents emigrated from China more than thirty years ago and I was born in Columbia, South Carolina, just like you."

"Sorry, I just assumed..." I murmured as I grabbed my stuff and joined them at the table.

"It's okay. I'm just sick of people treating me differently just because I'm of Chinese descent. I mean, you don't hear me making stereotypes about white cultures even though you look Russian and Katie looks English."

"I look English?" Katie beamed. "Cool!"

"No, not cool," Julie insisted. "It's annoying how people look at my eyes and assume things, like that I'd want green tea when Katie sent you to fetch sweet tea and we all know you don't put sugar in green tea."

"Yeah, my bad," I apologized as I pulled out my text book.

We settled into an uneasy truce and got down to work. Eventually we relaxed and managed to be quite productive. It was nice having an extra opinion when Katie and I disagreed on the answer to some of the qualitative questions.

After a particularly heated debate Katie leaned close and whispered, "I like her; she's got spunk."

"She's got something," I agreed. "But if you set her off again she'd better go after you this time."

"Something tells me that between the two of us she's much more likely to go after me," she leered.

I was confused by her comment, but before I could reply we all heard the front door open and someone noisily enter the house. I checked my watch, surprised that Ali was home early.

"I can't wait to go to camp next week!" Ali announced as she tossed her backpack by the door and headed off to her room to change. "It's going to be so nice to only have classes in the morning!"

Katie and I looked at each other, but it was too late to get dressed. Ali walked past the entrance to the living room, but didn't seem to notice us.

"Was that Screaming Ali?" Julie asked.

There was a sharp indrawn breath from Katie. "I wouldn't call her that where Chuck can hear you," she warned.

"Her name is Alison," I growled.

"Fine, why is Alison here?" Julie asked. "I thought it would just be us?"

"Alison is my sister and I have no idea why she's home early."

"So what's camp really like?" Ali asked as she walked into the dining room and froze.

"Oh. My. God!" she gasped. "Are you naked?"

"Well, we didn't think you'd be home for at least another hour and ... well Julie needed to practice."

"Hi, I'm Julie," she said, standing up and offering a hand.

As Julie rose to shake Ali's hand I couldn't help staring. Her narrow hips fit her thin frame perfectly and drew my eye. I'd heard about the whole 'hairless Asian' thing, but never really believed it. Julie's pubes seemed to form a natural racing stripe around her slit, yet it didn't have the shaped look of someone who trimmed.