At Willow Falls

Willow Falls

☙❧

Sometimes in the summer, when the sun melts the asphalt and wilts the church's immaculate green lawn, Ethan and his friends mount their bikes and ride down to Willow Falls. It's three miles from town, through two trailer parks, past the dollar store, and over a highway. If you're still alive after playing Frogger on Rt. 22, you have two options. Either you ditch your bike and continue on foot, which can take the bulk of an hour, or you attempt to ride through the woods. The usual group—Ethan, plus Maggie, Jada, Tristan, and Katherine—were skilled cyclists and impatient teenagers, and almost always chose the breakneck ride through the thick old-growth forest that wreathed the falls. Sometimes Ethan's older brother Harry would tag along, pretending to play chaperone for the teens. As adults only by technicality, the supervision was not always unwarranted. On this particular day, however, Harry was elsewhere, probably working on his car or chasing boys.

The friends had happened across Willow Falls following a deer path all the way from the edge of town; when they found the deer's destination, it nearly killed them. The scraggly path gave way suddenly to a treacherous slope made up of small, gravel-like sediment, strewn with thorny growths and unlucky rodent holes. On that day of discovery, Ethan had tumbled head over heels down the slide, landing face first in the dirt at the bottom. Since then, they'd tried to be more careful—with mixed results.

But god, if the dangers weren't worth it. Willow Falls was the leftover landscape from a million years of glacial carving followed shortly by two decades of explosive salt mining. In effect, the geography created a massive bowl filled with the most crystal blue water you've been blessed to see, fed by a thin, wide waterfall that formed the curtain to a large and open cavern. Most miraculous was that the aforementioned treacherous path was really the only way to get there. The water in the bowl ran off through a thicket into a deep swamp, which sifted out over a few miles into tributaries leading to a distant lake. Due to this, the area was almost entirely untouched during the summer months, save for the occasional lost hiker. It didn't appear on any notable maps and had no names beyond those cheered by five have-a-go teens on bikes. At the edge of the woods they dumped their wheels under an old spreading willow, with roots that arched like trelliswork. This willow tree, seen through eighteen-year-old eyes, marked a boundary beyond which rules shifted, the deep and shallow traded places, and responsibilities were discarded like old bad habits. They called it Home Tree.

It was the third quarter of August, the hottest of the hottest days, when the friends clambered down the gravel embankment, stripping off sweaty shirts and shorts in anticipation of the sweet water. Ethan went first as usual, the lab rat for his friends. He barely had the time to pull the jeans off his ass before he hit the water. It was ecstasy on his sticky skin, the heat wicking off his body, replaced by a cool pressure on his face and shoulders and eyelids. He lingered for a moment, until a racket of splashes erupted beside him. Enter weirdos, stage left.

"Last one in spots the weed!" Tristan shouted as he threw his shoes to the shore and tumbled into the water. Katherine laughed and dove in after him. Jada floated next to Ethan, leaving Maggie standing on the bank, fully unclothed, flipping the bird at Tristan.

"I'll give you a discount, okay?" he said. Maggie shook her head wordlessly, but smiled, held her nose and jumped into the drink.

Ethan still got a private little thrill seeing his friends float naked in the water. Their nipples were stiff from the cold, and every so often the curve of their asses or a patch of pubic hair would be displayed as they twisted and somersaulted, playing little games with each other and smiling.

"Hey Ethan, see something you like?" said Katherine teasingly. He snapped to attention and realized he had spent a second too long looking at her breasts, framed like a picture by her long blonde hair. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"I see two somethings, actually. Go fuck yourself, Kath."

She laughed and splashed at his face, then jumped on his back and tackled him. The feeling of her body pressed against his back was not lost in the water.

Everyone passed the afternoon laughing, playing Maggie's guitar, swimming, and taking little sips from the flask Ethan had brought. When the sun got lower, Tristan suggested they retreat to the cave. There was unanimous approval.

☙❧

"You know, Jada, you're really really hot," Katherine said. They were sitting on the rough stone behind the falls, drying out in the heat of their fire. Tristan, always a boy scout, had prepared an airtight bag of kindling and a lighter, and there was a pile of wood leaning against the side of the cavern, which he had painstakingly gathered from the woods and swum over to the cave a few weeks ago.

Jada blushed, adding the red of her cheeks to the firelight and the ruby beams of dusk.

"No, but seriously, I am loving the wild child look you've been doing lately. And definitely loving that." Katherine wagged a finger at Jada's small patch of black pubic hair. It was artfully shaved into a south-facing arrow. Jada giggled and looked down. She pushed her hips forward briefly, and everyone caught a clearer view. Ethan had noticed it earlier in the day, but Jada seemed a little self-conscious of its silliness, so he hadn't brought it up. Katherine lacked that particular tact.

"I actually did a wax on it myself. You really like it?" Jada asked. She poked around the hair, running her fingers through the coils. Everyone murmured their approval.

"Was it hard to do though?" Maggie asked. She had a full bush, trimmed only for length, which complimented her petite frame very well.

"Well, I mean, I have very thick hair," Jada said, shaking out her dark wet locks. The curls she usually tied back or pushed away with a headscarf lay limp around her shoulders. "But, if I can do it I bet you can."

"I'm not so sure how good of an indicator scalp follicles are of pube ones," said Tristan. His hair was a light brown, honey blond in the sun, but his eyebrows and body hair were the dark color of chestnut husks. He had a lithe athlete's body, looking more like a long-distance runner than the skater he actually was.

Katherine shrugged. "I like it that, you know, we have all types of pubes represented." She gestured meaningfully down at her immaculately hair-free pussy.

"I, for one, would like to braid mine," Ethan said. If it was a joke, nobody could tell.

The friends settled into a comfortable silence and watched the fire burn down. The sky beyond the veil of water at the cavern's mouth was abandoning orange for purple as the unseen sun continued its plummet.

After some time, Tristan broke the quiet. "I'll grab s'more wood." He stood and walked over to the pile. The fire was slowly collapsing within its ring of stones.

"This is nice, guys. Just this," Maggie said, and was met with smiles.

"Do you have more of the Jack?" Katherine asked, looking at Ethan.

He glanced around for the flask. "Oh. Wait. I left it on the shore with our stuff. I could go get it."

"Or I can do you one better, bud," said Tristan. He held a bundle of branches under one arm; in the other he brandished a small baggie. Ethan squinted through the dim light and saw the contents: one lighter, a packet of natural papers, and enough pot to hotbox the cave twice over. "Maggie offered to buy, right? Half of this can be for you, and with the rest I'll show you that you're making a great investment."

Maggie groaned. "Forty?"

"Let's say thirty nine, buddy," Tristan responded, smiling broadly like some great benefactor. He dumped half the weed onto his own towel, alongside the lighter and papers. A distinctive odor punched through the damp, smoky smell of the cave.

Maggie twisted up her face, then snatched the bag containing her portion and squirreled it away in her towel. "I'll pay you when we get back.This better be worth sacrificing half a day's pay."

"Find out, dude." Tristan picked up a couple buds and ground them between his fingers, then deposited the sticky mass on one of the papers, rolling it dexterously. When he reached for the lighter, Katherine interjected.

"Wait, wait, hold up." She took the joint and held it close to the flames of the fire, inhaling. "Inaugural hit. Enjoy, everyone." Tristan showed her a brief stink eye as she passed the joint over to Maggie, who pursed her lips and took a delicate little inhale. The rose embers of the weed matched her tiny pink nipples very closely. They were hard in the cooling air. She coughed briefly, and drank from Jada's water bottle, which she had wisely brought from her bike.

Tristan rolled another joint when the first one went to ashes, and by the time it joined its sister on the cave floor, everyone was happily stoned. Two kinds of smoke made friends in the air, then filtered out past the waterfall and escaped into the open night.

It was about nine at night. Plenty of time for any manner of activity.

"So, obviously we're gonna play truth or dare, right?" said Katherine.

Right on cue, thought Ethan.

Tristan groaned. "I don't need games to get my rocks off."

"Not what Kendra Goldie says," Katherine muttered under her breath.

Tristan gave her a look. "Alright, fine. Kath, fucking truth or fucking dare?"

"Fucking truth," she said.

"What other kind?" Ethan whispered. Jada giggled.

"How many guys have you fucked?" he asked.

"Like...penetration only or does oral count?"

"How many guys have been inside you? Or have you been inside."

"Okay," Katherine took a moment in thought. "Five. And a half, if you're counting this college dude who would've gotten it in if he'd stayed awake for thirty more seconds. I was grinding on him and he almost had it in me when I guess the vodka hit him and he passed the fuck out. He was so hot, though. His dick was like, huge and uncut and so sensitive. I know it's classic but I love big dicks."

"Word. That's cool," Tristan said. Ethan suspected the extra detail was for Tristan's benefit, or to piss him off; likely both.

"Ethan. Truth or dare?" asked Katherine."Dare," he replied.

"I dare you to stick your balls in the fire," she said, without a moment's hesitation.

Ethan looked at her blankly for a second. "What? No. I mean, no. No."

Maggie burst out laughing. "It's the rules, my dude! You gotta!" she said.

He searched for help. Tristan had trapped his lips between his teeth to keep from laughing. Jada had a look of vague disbelief.

"Just wave it through. Ten points if you singe your pubes," said Katherine.

Ethan looked around again and deduced that he would be receiving zero sympathy. He sighed. "If the world is deprived of a future Ethan Jr., it's your guys' fault." Without allowing himself more time to think, he straddled the fire and quickly dipped his hanging junk in and out from the licking flame. "FUHHCK!" he shouted, and jumped three feet into the air. In truth, he wasn't even in much pain, but damned if he wasn't going to make them all feel as guilty as possible. Of course, the other four ended up in breathless stitches, but Ethan felt satisfied that he had gotten his point across.

"You're the dumbest person alive," Maggie gasped from the ground.

"Seriously, that was incredible," Jada said. Once it was clear that he wasn't hurt, she stopped trying to suppress her giggling.

"Okay. Fuck you," Ethan pointed at Katherine. "But I'll get you back later. Jada, truth or dare?"

She pondered for a moment. "One dare, please."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. He had been planning on asking her if she had ever had a sex dream about anyone in the group. Now he was on the spot.

"Okay, uh…" Ethan froze. He couldn't give a dare like Katherine's, especially after calling her out for it. He glanced at Jada. In the firelight she looked like a living statue, each curve and shadow a deliberate choice in the assembly of one of the most beautiful people he'd ever known.

"Masturbate," spoke Ethan's mouth. His brain stayed silent.

Ethan and Jada were the oldest friends in the small group, close confidantes since childhood. There had been a moment where they wondered if their friends and parents were right: if they really should just start dating. But Ethan got scared, and Jada got confused, so the moment passed. After some time they returned to a friendship thick as thieves, fucking other people and telling each other about it afterwards. Competition defined their relationship now, socially, academically, even as co-captains of the chess team. But on late nights like this, daring without words, they willed each other to please make a move, like a stalemate in one of their games. They had each seen the other naked dozens of times, but there were so many lines left uncrossed. In the rising heat of the night, Ethan had just picked the boundary that made his stomach flutter the most, and obliterated it.

Nobody uttered a sound, the silence redoubling again and again. At last, Jada threw back her head and let out a laugh. "Alright. Fuck it. Should I just go right here?" she asked. Her mind was in a whirl. I knew it. Maggie was right. You want me. Are you finally ready for this?

Ethan nodded to her question.

"Okay, then. No time like the present." Jada closed her eyes and leaned back against the rock wall. She adjusted her towel under her and brought a hand down between her crossed legs. Jada moved slowly up and down the length of her pussy, at first with one finger, then two. She paused occasionally at the top and drew little circles around her clit before diving back down, pressing deeper and deeper into her folds. Everyone sat silently, transfixed and watching. With her other hand she reached up to her brown nipple, and began fondling it between her fingers. After almost a minute of this, she let out a small gasp, and her pace noticeably increased.

"Spread your legs," Maggie murmured. She was clenching her forearm tightly, staring fixedly at her friend's display.

Jada's eyes flitted open. She gave a small smile, then lifted herself forward and spread her knees wide. Her pussy was nearly dripping, her wetness shining in the firelight. Her lips were smooth and dark, with pink inner folds poking between them. On top of it all was that arrow, adorning her mound like a crown. No longer a novelty, it was now a symbol of her horniness, an invitation for anyone's eyes. She brought her hands back down and continued. After a long minute her breathing became heavier and more ragged. Her fingers were no longer sliding lazily up and down her pussy, but working furiously at her clit and thrusting into her depths. She moaned with increasing fervor, like a cat, like a whirlwind. There was nobody else in the cave.

Then her eyelids unshuttered, and the world rushed back in, carrying with it her self-consciousness and inhibition. She slowed her circling and removed her fingers from herself. She hadn't cum, but felt astonishingly certain that she would have, if she'd only kept going. She wasn't sure why she'd stopped. She knew her friends, staring at her in silence, wanted to see her. This wasn't even the first time she'd masturbated with some of them, like the time she and Maggie had watched porn one day after school. But that was private, and mostly unacknowledged. Here she felt embarrassed, the first one to cross the boundary from nudity and teasing into the unknown of explicit pleasure. Luckily her friends didn't take long to break the ice.

"Yeah, that's like the definition of a bad act to follow," said Tristan. Jada grinned downwards at herself, but her eyes slid up and settled slyly on Ethan. She saw that he was flushed, that he was avoiding her gaze, and that his cock stood rock hard between his legs. The cave no longer smelled like water, or smoke, or weed, but like floral, musky sex. The air between the friends had grown relatedly thick.

"Maybe we have a little break, huh?" asked Jada.

Her suggestion was well-taken. Maggie moved towards the fire to stoke its dwindling sections while Jada drank hard gulps of water from her bottle. Sitting close to the cave edge, Ethan crouched and dove into the water without standing to his full height, necessary to maintain a plausible scrap of modesty in front of his friends. Tristan and Katherine were close behind.

"Gonna grab the flask," Katherine said, and started making strokes in the direction of the shore. Tristan and Ethan tread water near each other.

"How you doin', man?" Tristan asked.

"Having fun. Taking it easy," Ethan responded lightly. He ducked his head beneath the rippling surface and came up feeling refreshed. "How's it for you?" Underpinning the question was Tristan's complex relationship with Katherine. The two of them could be fabulous overthinkers, especially when it came to each other, and their personal history was filled with negotiated agreements, futile declarations, and too many page-long text messages to count. When Ethan last asked, they had broken their long armistice and finally got to second base, messily, on Tristan's basement futon. Where they stood now was anyone's guess.

"Oh, who knows, who knows. She's sometimes hard to read, man. I know I've said this before, but she can be really different over text than how she is in person. She says all sorts of things, but then we see each other, and it's just…like there's a wall up, you know? And we're kind of mean to each other, I mean it's just teasing, but I guess I don't like it. It makes it hard to tell where we stand, and hard to know how she's going to…react to some things. I do know one thing, though. She's letting Maggie and Jada take the lead with this stuff. So, if that was Jada leading, I guess we'll see how far Kath wants to take it. As long as she's comfortable, I'm happy."

Ethan gave a look. "You love her, man."

Tristan took his turn to dive below the water, but when he resurfaced, he was smiling.

They splashed around and talked for a while longer. The sky's final purple bruise disappeared, and by the time Katherine returned with the flask, it was certainly night. Ethan clambered up onto the smooth stones and saw Jada and Maggie, shoulder to shoulder, discussing something with low voices. As he entered the space, briefly toweling off his shaggy brown hair, they went mum.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked.

Tristan and Katherine were right behind him, and as they emerged from the water Jada snapped right back to the game, conveniently ignoring Ethan. "Tristan, it was your turn, right? Truth or dare?"

Tristan looked a little dazed. Katherine's face spread into a wolfish smile as she re-settled into her seat.

"Wow. Okay, truth. Or dare? You decide," he said to Jada.

Jada gazed lazily back. Maggie was at her side, and whispered something in her ear. "What is your deepest insecurity?" she asked.

He scoffed. "Give me a dare. I don't want a melodrama question."

Jada's mouth twisted in disappointment. "Fine. I dare you to try and suck your own dick."

And try, he did. With his best contortionism and everyone's incessant goading he even managed to get his tongue over the tip of it.

"There. Now I can go ahead and not ever do that again," Tristan said, massaging his lower back. The mood was comfortable, but just below the surface was a powerful pressure, a group hope and expectation that not even Tristan's misadventure could puncture. "Maggie, T or D?"

"Truth," she said.