Loosening Up Bk. 09 Ch. 16-20

Dave wondered whether the gorgeous women of Lake Wobegone went topless all the time the way they do at the Circle. He thought of the intro that Garrison Keillor made every time: 'Lake Wobegone ... where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.' Dave's version would sound more enticing.

He was surprised when he saw the senior high schoolers come and join the youth group who were mostly university students. Toby, Matt, Danica, and Rose were warmly welcomed and instantly included in the conversations.

Dave went back to reading a book about lasers, trying to get a further handle on what he'd found up in Georgia. The next he knew he was surrounded by over a dozen young men and women, all with large smiles.

Hillary singled herself out as the spokesperson for the group. "Dave, we're all seniors in this group and there are a few missing. As you see, we are from both high school and undergrad college. The reason we're here is to ask whether we can have a graduation party here or in the core living room or both, depending on the weather?"

"When?" Dave asked with a grin.

"The second to last Saturday in May. All our exams will be finished by then. Grades may or may not be issued, but we won't care. We all know we're doing well with our courses and so graduation is a sure thing for each of us."

"How large a group are you talking about?"

"It could get as large as two-hundred, but we think more than likely it'll be half that size. We talked to Bridget, Cricket, and Nikky about their graduations, and so we have some ideas about how to manage the crowd as well as how to handle the party activities."

"And how's that?" Dave asked.

"Well, for one, nobody gets in without a recently issued bill of clean health. Beyond that, everybody that drives leaves their keys with someone to lock up until they pass a sobriety test when they want to leave. Noah has access to a breathalyzer."

Jay stepped up beside Hillary. He said, "We're pooling money for a live band that will play from eight to midnight. Frank just started talking to Bobbie about catering; we have some money to defray that expense, too. We will only serve water and soft drinks, otherwise it's BYOB. Except for high schoolers, most everyone will be over twenty-one."

Austin chimed in, "The Kappa Delta Alpha sorority and Phi Theta Rho fraternity graduates are likely to come to the party. We want to try to limit it to members and their guests."

Dave teased, "Are you sure two-hundred is your maximum attendance. This is starting to sound like a cast of thousands. Did you invite your favorite faculty members?"

Austin shook her head, "No, but that's a great idea. I bet many of them would like to see this place."

"What are you going to do about the usual Saturday evening dress code and the erotic exhibitionist sex?"

Jay said, "Errr, we thought we'd let that play out any way the people that were here wanted it to. We suspect things are apt to get a little wild towards the end of the evening with our invitees, too. You know that most of us are all just skin-encapsulated bundles of sexual hormones working overtime."

Dave laughed. "So, sex is allowed. How do you want Circle members who're usually here to behave?"

"Errr, they're all invited, too. We thought the intermixing might produce some fun results, interesting conversations, and wonderful memories. We also thought there'd usually be some natural separation unless people wanted to mix."

Dave teased, "So, we can go right ahead and make love with each other on some of the chaises while the party is going on?"

Austin blushed, "We don't think there'll be too many empty chaises. We were even talking about setting up some tents across Circle Drive in the field to give people places to have some private romance or to just sleep off over drinking."

Dave nodded, "Tell Erin all of this so she can put it in the weekly newsletter. Invite comments and suggestions. Where will the tents come from, by the way?"

Jay said, "Mark Worthington's group. They've used them with great success at some of their parties. Bridget intervened on our behalf to borrow them. One of us just has to drive up there with a pretty empty car or van to collect them."

Austin stood near Dave, and leaned down and kissed him. He started to run his hand up and down her flawless legs, going right up to the gusset to her monokini and then back down to the back of her knee -- a place he knew was an erogenous zone. He could feel her shift her weight to lean against him more.

Austin said, "Thank you for allowing the party."

Dave said, "I'm not allowing it. I'm only one person in the Circle. We all like to say 'Yes', so I doubt anybody will object. Besides, the cause is laudable. When you're Circle members remember how group decisions are made, especially when you think some toes might get stepped on. One of our hallmarks around here is 'No Drama' although on some days you'd be hard pressed to prove it."

Austin said, "The TV cameras can record everything, if they want to. We all talked about that and no one cares.