Michelle's River Exploration

"Relax babe, just because this thing is a bit 'underground' doesn't mean it won't be fun," he had reassured her, "...and besides, at the worst it'll be nice and warm with some cool water to chill in."

Steve and Michelle pulled up to the campground around noon. The glaring sun and blue sky had made it almost uncomfortably hot, so they were more than happy to have a cool river to chill out next to, while some of their favorite tunes were blaring. Steve's girlfriend on the other hand, was a bit less enthusiastic.

"But we won't know anybody there!" Michelle frowned from the driver's seat. The couple who were friends of theirs that had invited them to go to the river for the weekend - that was 2 hours out of town - had cancelled.

"Well then we'll have a chance to make some new friends!" Steve countered. Michelle had tried to keep positive...she really didn't want to be a downer, but couldn't help but feel nervous.

Finding their campsite, she parked her hatchback and popped the trunk, and Steve walked around and began pulling gear and supplies out. She got out and looked around, surveying the area. There were still quite a few empty lots at that point.

"You're gonna be fine honey...this'll be so much fun, I promise! It's really warm and the music is gonna be great!" he was trying to stay upbeat as he reassured her, pulling more gear out.

She forced a smile. "I know, I just always feel a little weird out in the wild...and I guess I'm still a little nervous about the scene you know?" Steve had exposed Michelle to the world of electronic music and she'd gotten pretty into it, which was how Steve had convinced her to go to a camping party on the river that was known to have local DJs spinning it.

There was also the small detail that he had convinced her that this trip would be a great time to try molly. She had never done it before, and always thought it was a hardcore party drug. He really just wanted to get her to loosen up and thought that would do the trick. And while he hadn't told Michelle, he'd also heard rumors that this party sometimes got a bit wild: drugs, suggestive themes, even nudity were rumored to go down.

They pitched the tent and had some lunch in the open back of her trunk, talking about what they wanted to do for the day and watched the other camp goers pull into the campsite. They'd heard the water was so warm, you could go in at night comfortably, and there were even small cliffs to jump into the water from. Cliff jumping was another thing that had got Michelle to go; it was something she'd enjoyed as a kid and wanted to get comfortable doing as an adult.

As they ate they saw people of all types driving through - hippies, hipsters, bros, a lot of young girls, just a large assortment of young people joining in for the party by the river.

Dusting off their sandwiches, Steve packed his cooler-backpack with some drinks and snacks. The plan was to check out the scenery, take in the sun, maybe get a little buzzed, and enjoy the party.

They hiked down a short trail toward the river. Walking through the trees brought them to an opening where they were greeted by blue water flowing against large rock cliffs. Looking down the river's edge you could walk and see the open beach area where it looked like people were going to gather. Across the river from that, people were standing about 30 feet up on a cliff, looking down at the water below. A fit, muscular guy confidently backflipped if it, landing feet first in the water. Michelle gasped at how casual he was. He then popped up, laughing as his friends cheered.

"Wanna see what the crowd is like?" Steve asked her.

"...alright" she replied timidly.

They walked toward the group as more people jumped off the cliff into the water. Looking over at Michelle, Steve could see she was definitely nervous to be around this group of strangers. Perhaps she'd loosen up more as they settled in. Arriving at the party area, they noticed more and more people showing up as the DJs started setting their gear up, and they laid down their blanket to the side of the soundsystem. Girls in rafts floated toward them from upstream, and European-looking guys in speedos paddled over to try to talk to them. Michelle and Steve laughed as he reached into the backpack and pulled out some of the cheap beer he had brought. Michelle rolled her eyes at his frugal ways as she took hers.

"There's a million good beers to choose from and you have to pick the cheap ones?" She teased. "Maybe I'll drink the river water instead."

Steve scoffed, "Come on...this isn't the place to be snobby Michelle, we're here to have fun! Besides...drinking's not what we're really here to do either."

Her smile faded, and a slightly pensive look came over her face at the thought of the drugs.

They cracked their beers and Steve held his up to cheers. Her eyes rolled again and she "clinked" her can against his with a smile, taking a sip of the watery brew. They people-watched the other partiers as they drank; many weren't wearing much at all, and Michelle, who was in a tank-top, jean skirt and flip-flops with her suit on underneath, felt a bit self-conscious now too.

The music started up and some cheers of appreciation rang out, although the dancing was yet to commence. Steve figured it was going to start slow and pick up later as the alcohol, weed, and whatever else took hold.

"Wanna try out the water?" Steve suggested hopefully, after a bit. The initial buzz from the beer had begun and he hoped Michelle might've been easing in as well.

Covering her face from the hot sun, she shrugged. Might as well do what they came to do, she thought to herself.

"...sure." she replied with a smirk.

They got up and walked down the river a bit away from the beach to enter the water. The crowd buzzed down the way and people laughed and cheered as another person jumped in off the cliff. Steve took his shirt off, and stuffed it in the backpack, as Michelle looked around. She found she was timid about being in a bikini, even though everyone else was liberally stripping off their clothes due to how hot it was. Steve was burning up himself, even without a shirt on. Finally, she stripped off her tank top slowly, and adjusted her bikini top to make sure everything was covered. Then she reached down to unzip her skirt, but stopped, and put her hands on her hips.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

"I dunno, there's just a lot of cute girls here and they all look really good in their suits and stuff. I just feel kinda weird." she said with trepidation in her voice.

"Look, I think you need to relax and have fun with this. That's what were here for."

Michelle pursed her lips - she hated being told to relax. She wanted to have fun, though, and really didn't know why it was a problem. She always had felt perfectly fine in her suit at the beach.

"Maybe it's just the unfamiliar territory." she thought to herself.

"Alright, now I'm getting hot so let's get in!" Steve said, laughing.

Glancing around once more, she pulled down her jean skirt, revealing her sexy green floral string bikini. The strings hugged her hips and she slowly stepped out of her skirt.

Looking back, Steve noticed just how well the cut of it showed off her nice, plump, yet athletic ass. Michelle was a high level college soccer player and, although she was on her off-season, was still extremely fit. He knew she had freshly waxed her bikini area and she looked cute as hell in her little swimsuit.

Leaving their stuff on the beach, save for their beverages, they waded in slowly, the water refreshing the both of them in the hot summer sun. The riverbed was smooth stones that slightly massaged their feet, and the meandering pace of the river allowed them to chill in place without too much fighting against the current.

Hearing a splash, Michelle's attention moved over to the rock again. More people had congregated at the top, with a handful standing by the edge, waiting their turn to leap. It didn't seem THAT high up from her view.

"Thinking about the triple backflip you're going to throw off there?" Steve teased. Michelle rolled her eyes and flipped off her boyfriend. When she was younger she had loved jumping off the diving board into their local pool. Somewhere along the way she'd lost that adventurous spirit, but, maybe she'd try jumping sometime that weekend.

The first beer was having its effect and she was beginning to feel a bit more relaxed. The hot sun on her shoulders combined with the cool water calmed her even further.

She thought about it...if she had the whole weekend to conquer that rock, she could get to it when she wanted, couldn't she? What if she-...she could just go up there and take a look right now. She didn't have to jump right? Gulping the last of her beer, Michelle turned to Steve.

"I just kinda wanna see what it looks like from up there." she said to him with a bit of an embarrassed smile.

"Go for it!" He encouraged, hoping she might finally be considering letting loose for the weekend.

She threw her empty can at him playfully, then turned to swim to the rock. The lazy current was plenty easy to swim through and she easily arrived at the foot of the rock. She found the entry point to the climb up to where the others were jumping from. Hoisting herself up, she looked up, drawing a mental map of her path to the top. Satisfied with her route, she began climbing, traversing the small paths along the rock, stepping easily up some places, and scrambling her way up others. The path up was pretty easy going, all things considered, and before she knew it, she was making final hops up to the flat top.

She looked around, taking in the view of the beautiful river and forest surrounding it. It was pretty breathtaking, and she suddenly had the notion that she'd been a bit hard on Steve. He'd just wanted them to have a good time.

She looked through the crowd of maybe 20 partiers chatting and dancing at the top. They were mostly 20 and 30-somethings with drinks in their hands, and clad in swimsuits. Nobody was lined up to jump at that moment, and she realized this was as good a time as any just to check out what the fall looked like.

Walking though and between some groups of partiers, she approached the ledge. Stepping closer, she peered over the edge of it. It looked MUCH higher from up there. But...several partiers had jumped off already though...surely she'd be safe too?

"Helps if you don't think about it too much," a man's voice behind her said. She looked back, and there he was: backflip guy, flashing a smile her way. Ugh, who was this dude? Still, she politely smiled back at him.

"I know I can do it, it's just...it's safe right?" she asked, looking down at the water that seemed even further away than before.

"Oh, totally." the stranger reassured her confidently. She looked back off the cliff and thought about what it was going to be like, jumping out over the water, losing all control of her direction, unable to take it back once she'd jumped.

"So, you jumpin' or...?" he followed.

Realizing that she couldn't just hang out there without some kind of purpose, she responded, "Oh, no I can't...not right now..."

"Really? Why not?" he countered. She thought she'd noted a bit of teasing in his tone.

"I just...I'm not ready yet." She said, the words making her feel weaker as she said them.

"Well, everyone goes at their own pace I guess." He said with a smile. Was he teasing her? A line of defense welled up.

"When I'm ready I'll jump, bro." she said, putting a bit of extra emphasis on the 'bro' for effect. He shrugged, unfazed, still smirking.

She stepped away from the ledge, feeling her cheeks glow slightly. She'd do it...she knew she could. Walking back through the partiers she found the ledge down. The climb down felt a bit more harrowing. The constant management of unstable footing and working with and against gravity had her thinking twice about which was easier, this or jumping. Reaching the bottom, she hopped in and swam to Steve.

"There's no rule that says you HAVE to jump you know." Steve greeted her, trying to be reassuring. It hardly helped. She felt a bit like a failure. But why? She hadn't even gone up to jump in the first place.

They hung around in the shallow water of the beach, and Michelle tried to enjoy the sun. They appreciated the music and the crowd for a long while as the day wore on. People had really started dancing and the people-watching got a bit more fun.

Michelle couldn't help but continue glancing up at the group on the rock, especially the guy who'd talked to her. She saw how casually he threw himself over the edge. Typical confident douchebro, she thought to herself. Still, she didn't mind the view of him as he pulled himself up the rocks to the top ledge once more. Why do good-looking guys always end up being such assholes?

Surveying the cliff from their place in the shallow water, she kept thinking to herself, it just didn't look that high. She knew it was just from the change in perspective, but it looked so doable from down there. Was she really going to wait until tomorrow to try, or even not try at all? What if she did it today and it turned out to be totally fun? She'd have the whole trip to get comfortable cliff jumping.

"Fuck it, I'm gonna do it." She said aloud, moving toward the cliff again.

"Alright babe! Good luck!" Steve called after her.

Swimming to the foot of the cliff, Michelle pulled herself out of the water. She found her footing on the coarse rock as she had earlier, climbing further up.

Pulling herself up to the top of the rock, she saw the group of partiers chatting and dancing again. She surveyed the crowd; the guy she saw doing backflips off the rock was busy chatting with two cute ladies. Geeze, how could those pretty girls STAND a guy like him?

She creeped to the edge and looked over as she had the day before. It still looked so much higher than it did from the water.

"You gonna do it this time or no?" a somewhat familiar voice piped up. Her eyes rolled. Turning around, she saw backflip guy smiling at her.

"Seriously though I'm sorry, I bet I sounded like a dickbag earlier."

"And you think you didn't sound like one just now?" she quipped back.

"Hah! That's fair I guess." he laughed, his smile remaining.

"Oh my god is Ted bothering you hon?" one of the girls behind him piped up. Michelle glanced over his shoulder to see the two pretty, bikini-clad girls with beers in hand.

"Hey I was apologizing!" he said with a laugh. "I just wanted to make her feel comfortable so she could jump."

"She'll jump when she jumps, jerk."

"I'm sure she will! Geeze..." he said. He gestured to the girls behind him, "Sarah and Kelly have been on my case ever since I talked to you before, ESPECIALLY Sarah." he said, nodding at the girl who'd been telling him off.

"Thanks." Michelle said to her with a smile.

"You can totally do it girl." this "Sarah" said to Michelle between sips of beer.

"Yeah you got this!" her friend "Kelly" piped up.

Looking back over the edge, she wondered how much she'd hate herself if she didn't jump this weekend, knowing she'd forever be wondering "what if". She shook her fingers out to the side once more and exhaled. Then, she willed her legs to jump forward. Suddenly she was in the air, and there was no turning back. She felt the rush of adrenaline fly though her as she began to fall, focusing herself on spotting her landing. The water rushed up toward her and she braced for impact.

A bubbly crash rang through her ears when she entered the water all at once, the cool enveloping her completely. Was she ok? Nothing hurt, and she was still alive. A couple strokes got her to the surface where she flipped the hair out of her face. She had done it! And it was so fun...what a rush! Looking up, she saw the two girls and guy friend cheering for her. She let out an enthusiastic scream back up at them.

She was so excited, she'd never swam so fast on her way to the foot of the cliff. She couldn't wait to celebrate her accomplishment. Climbing back to the top, the girls cheered and hugged her. "Ted" held his hand up for a high five and she obliged, slapping it. Sarah offered her a celebratory beer and she happily took it. Cracking it open, she toasted with her new friends.

"Thanks so much you guys...that was incredible!" she gushed.

"I mean we TOTALLY knew you could do it," Sarah replied.

"Well thanks anyways...I'm Michelle", she introduced herself to the group with a shy wave.

"I'm Sarah, that's Kelly, this is Mr. Douchebro...I mean Ted" Sarah joked.

Michelle was ecstatic. She'd just conquered the cliff and now she was making some awesome friends to hang with. As she drank her beer, she got to know her new friends. They were a bit younger than her and Steve, but she enjoyed their energy.

"So...are you gonna just be drinking today or...?" Sarah inquired. Michelle was confused for a moment before picking up on what she thought she might be getting at.

"Oh! Well...my boyfriend and I...um...brought some molly but I wasn't sure I was going to have any..."

"Cool! Well we were just about to eat some right now. You should try it, it's really fun!"

"Um...alright I guess!" she replied with anxious excitement. She looked down at Steve, who was still hanging out on his own, sipping his beer. "Only one way down for me this time."

She confidently stepped to the ledge and with barely a second thought this time, jumped, the fall feeling much faster than the first.

Swimming to the surface, than to Steve, she felt no qualms about her change of heart...she felt like she could do anything!

"Hey, so my new friends were talking and they were about to take some molly..."

"Oh awesome! Do you wanna take ours now?" Steve asked hopefully.

"I think so yeah!" she replied excitedly.

Steve produced the pills from his bag and Michelle took a deep breath as he handed one to her and one for himself. She looked up at Sarah, Kelly and Ted to make sure they were watching her. She saw Sarah hold her fist up, before counting up, 1, 2, 3 with her fingers. On 3, Michelle watched them bring their pills to their mouths. Not wanting to be left behind, she didn't let herself hesitate, popping the pill in her mouth along with Steve. She took a swig of her water and passed it back. There was no going back now! She looked back up at her friends who were holding their bottle of water up at her in a distant celebration.

Michelle was definitely feeling nervous about trying this new drug. Maybe hanging with her new friends might take her mind off it? They seemed like a fun group for her and Steve to tag along with.

"Would you mind if I went to hang out with my friends up there again?" Michelle asked Steve. Steve had been enjoying watching all the other partiers - especially the other cute bikini-clad ladies - so he had no problem at all.

"Sure thing babe!" Steve said excitedly. "Oh take this!" he reached into the backpack and produced a bottle of water.

She swam back to the foot of the cliff and made the now familiar climb up the rock to her new friends. Joining their group she began chatting, finding out about them. Michelle took it that they were definitely a group of partiers, although this was their first time at this festival. They'd set up down the river a bit where the rest of their group of friends were hanging out.

"So how long have you and Steve been a thing?" Sarah asked.

"Oh about a couple of years now" Michelle responded.

"Wow! That's quite a while..." she trailed off. "How'd you meet?"

"We go to college together - we met at a party." Michelle explained.

"Oh, a party huh?" Sarah let the response linger for a couple of seconds. "Did you hook up with him at this party?"