Siblings Strip Away Past Notions (Remade)

James had that dream in the palm of his hand, and he seemed intent on crushing it.

As Wendy lathered soap along her thighs and backside, she considered her precarious position. If she ever became too popular, or his friends stared at her the wrong way, what was to stop James from taking her down? If she defended herself by sniping back, his friends would get sick of the drama and have no choice but to cut her out, no matter how much they liked her.

Since James wasn't able to see past his ignorance and magically becoming unattractive to his friends wasn't an option, Wendy was out of ideas. Their stupid sibling tiffs would surely be solved in time, no matter cruel her brother was now, but Wendy didn't have the time. She couldn't bear to spend another year feeling alone, isolated, and unhappy. She needed to get her anxious mind off this, like, right now.

Minutes later, Wendy lay on her bed, her wet hair wrapped in a towel, and her naked body twisting below her gritted teeth. Even as her athletic legs kicked on her mattress from the hum of her silver vibrator, she couldn't forget her troubles, as her mind worked to change the status quo and break her free from her brother's crushing hand.

"Eeeeh!" Wendy sunk her teeth into her lip and muffled her moan. The buzzing sex toy fell from her writhing fingers and off of her pink pussy. In her sharp gasps, she arrived at a moment of clarity, and she smiled widely at the ceiling. Rubbing her tender nipples soothingly with her thumbs, Wendy chuckled and thanked Teddy, the oblivious custodian at her law office who had inspired her to bring her suction-cup dildo into the shower minutes earlier.

***** 4

The first week of classes was always a breeze. The only difficulty was getting back into the student mindset after a whole summer off. Luke, Austin, and Harris had a more excitable attitude than James because they weren't going to grad school, so it was their last first week.

Every day had beautiful weather, except for Friday, which was downright shitty. It was perfect. The guys had no excuse not to sit inside and do their homework before the weekend. When night fell, they had agreed that going to a party would be pointless since the rain would keep their friends away, but the truth was that after commuting to campus the last four days, nobody wanted to make the thirty-five-minute drive from Novi to Ann Arbor again.

But it was now Saturday, and the rain had passed, leaving the August sun to sear through the humid air. It was fucking hot, and once again, it was perfect. From what they had heard from neighbors in the gym, there was nothing quite like the pool on a hot day. It was the place to be. Those rumors were all the guys could think about as they walked across the grass lawn.

"Holy shit! They weren't kidding." From fifty yards away, they could already see a swarm of people and hear the blaring music. The moment they opened the metal gate, they were blown away. There had to be a hundred people in and around the large, rectangular pool.

The thumping music, the talkative people, the colorful swimwear, and the aroma of fresh air mixed with chlorine, suntan oil, flowers, and canned beer made it a feast for the senses. As if it couldn't get any better for James, his sister wasn't there and he could relax with his friends. They laughed off the absence of free tables and chairs and simply dropped their bags and their beer cooler along the fence.

As he muscled his way out of his tank top, James noticed the lurking eyes of tanning women. One, in an American flag bikini, nudged her sunglasses lower to take a peek. James thought that only happened in movies, and he blushed.

"Alright, boys!" Austin stretched his arms like he was about to run a race. "Let's swim before we fry."

They walked to the staircase at the front of the pool and scanned the crowded water, trying to make sense of the scene. James went numb. As his roommates talked, he could no longer feel his thighs and chest. Directly before him, ascending out of the crystal blue water and into his view with each step, was his sister. His friends' voices died.

Along with his friends, and any other human facing her general direction, James gawked at the glimmering brunette. Her green eyes were round and self-assured, her flared lips were red and cocky, and a sense of humor subtly lifted the cheekbones of her bright, diamond-shaped face.

Clinging to the curves of her hourglass body was a one-piece, deep orange swimsuit. Framed by the high arches above her hips, the full lengths of her athletic legs were left exposed to the searing sun. Plunging down the front of the orange fabric was an elegant U-cut, which revealed the near entirety of her large breasts. Rising to the sides, the U rose and tapered into two narrow straps, which wrapped over each bare shoulder.

James could see the dark, shadowy valley between his sister's firm boobs. The thin straps running straight down from her shoulders left her ample side cleavage visible to him. In the bright rays, he could see two dark circles, each with a muted point in the middle. Every inch of skin, from her legs to her shoulders to her neck was soft, tan, and smooth.

"Hey, guys!" She finally greeted, after standing on the top step in silence for a bit too long.

"Hey, Wendy," Luke swallowed. Everyone else followed, including James, who had a weird feeling that he was an inferior species.

"I didn't know you guys were stopping by. I would've made sure to save my table better. Hopefully, it wasn't stolen while I was swimming," she winced, knowing full well it wasn't stolen. It couldn't have been, as she had been tanning and studying in her lounge chair since the pool opened at nine. Every so often, she picked her head up to see if her brother and friends had arrived yet, knowing that they inevitably would. If she timed it well, she could simply slip into the pool and make the entrance she had envisioned throughout the week.

I fucking nailed it, haha!

Her silly gamesmanship felt more risqué than she had imagined. Shimmering beads were trickling down her boobs, which surely looked heavy and imprinted by dark, wet orange. She rang out her nearly black ponytail. "Do you guys wanna move your stuff over to my chair?" Four heads dryly wagged, and she told them to grab their stuff and follow her.

This is so stupid, she thought, as she led the way to her glass table on the large deck. The guys were behind her, and she had no doubt what their eyes were up to. She felt odd, funny, entertained, and empowered all at once.

Trailing the group, James didn't expect the back of her suit to be skimpier than the front. Except for the two orange straps, there was nothing there. Each one ran down her back before finally curving in just in time to meet below the dimple in her spine. The straps bowed slightly at her waist and ribs, as they connected to the side wings of her suit, pulling the front taut against her torso. The most surprising feature was where the two straps met at her tailbone. A triangular tail narrowed into a thin strip that ran between her bare butt cheeks and disappeared.

The younger brother caught himself walking with his eyes on the spherical cartilage as it jiggled with each step on the concrete. He blinked and defended his intrigue — It doesn't make sense... How does she not have tan lines? That's weird.

"Here we are!" Wendy took a towel from the table, which was covered in her scattered belongings. Next to it was her chaise lounge, which had a matching towel laid neatly upon it. The hefty, soft, cream-colored towel was very much to her taste. "Just drop your stuff anywhere. Nobody here steals. Well, they'll steal chairs and tables, but not your stuff, hehe!"

Thus far, the results of her plan were glorious. Wendy had to suppress her smirk when looking at her brother's friends' flush faces. Their bulging eyes, their awkward posturing... It was almost unfair how easy it was to claim victory. The irony, though, was that she wanted to win by wearing a swimsuit she was comfortable wearing in public, and she had worn this one to multiple Spring Break vacations, but now, for the first time, it felt a little racy. Perhaps it was because of the reason she was wearing it?

Flicking her eyes over to James, Wendy was looking at a man who had no clue what to think or say. Her little showcase was far from a nuclear option, but it was safe to say any plans he had to turn his friends away from her were now dead in the water.

C'mon, James... No snippy remarks? No embarrassing stories? So, are you finally ready to accept that I'm not fifteen anymore? Are you ready to try to be friends with me?

Based on his stumped look, her message was received, and she felt validated by her decision. "So, guys, how was your first week of classes?"

"It was good," Harris started. "Ya know, we didn't really do too much. Just saw some friends again. Bought the books we actually plan on reading." Austin and Luke agreed with a laugh.

"Yeah, you don't wanna read more than you have to," she jabbed, drying her hair. "I always loved the first week back. Did you hit any parties last night?"

"Nah. Ya know... Just... It was rainy."

"Ahh..." Wendy grinned smugly. "Realized you're pretty far from campus, dincha?"

"No, no," Luke said. "We're still gonna go to them. It was just bad weather. Part of it was that they were all frat parties, too."

"Ohhh, yeah, that's true. They pull out all the stops for the freshman the first week. I almost forgot, hah! Back when I lived on campus, though — ya know, way back, like two years — I partied with a large group of people who weren't in Greek Life. We had fun parties every weekend. You guys can always do something like that."

"Wow... Sounds nice. We tend to bounce around and see what we can find, so we never know what we're getting into. Usually, it's random smaller parties." Luke confessed. "But we think they're fun sometimes."

"Hey, that's all that matters," Wendy shrugged, then bent her arms above her head to retie her dried ponytail. This wasn't meant to be part of the show, as that was well over, but it was comical how meticulously the guys were watching her so something so mundane. "But you guys should think about joining a non-Greek party group or make one yourselves. You can probably have more fun than the frats, but without the douchey elements, hah! Like, we even had themed parties just like the frats did."

"Naw, really?!" Austin gaped.

"Mm-hmm," Wendy nodded.

"None of us thought of that. What themes did y'all have?"

"Uff... A lot!" Wendy said. Upon seeing her brother's nose twitch, she added to her answer, "I'd say my favorite party was the beach-themed one. That's actually where this suit's from." She was lying. Sort of. She went to the Beach Bums Party in a similar yellow swimsuit, and she had worn shorts with it. But the way her brother recoiled as if he had heard nails on a chalkboard allowed Wendy to forgive herself for the fib. "Anyway, you guys obviously came here to swim, and I was just about to take a break, so I won't hold you up. I have some things to do on my phone, then I'll join you later."

Obediently, three of the men left and hurried to the water to cool the fuck off. One remained behind, unmoved on the sizzling concrete. James couldn't stop studying his older sister, mostly her face, trying to figure out what she was up to and who she was. She was smarter than him. He knew that. But he had played way too many games with her not to recognize when she was playing one. And she was. So much about her was the same, but some of the changes were beyond his comprehension.

"Is there anything you need to talk to me about?"

James blinked and looked down at his sister, who was reclining on her towel, not even looking in his direction. "Uh..."

There was no other explanation than the universe was truly trying to mock him. Last Saturday night, when he was drifting off to sleep after seeing her in the black bikini, his final thought was, Why can't she just wear a one-piece? Now, he shook his head at how she was fine traipsing around her neighbors dressed like this. Truthfully, though, James was jealous, and he knew it. He wished he had her confidence and self-security. Again, his sister possessed a gift he didn't.

"Hmm?" she cocked her eyebrow.

"Nothing, you've... you've really changed a lot."

"Thanks? And you're right, I have changed a lot. It happens when you grow up. I know you've grown up too, James. You just have to get over the fact we're not kids anymore. If me being an adult is weird for you, it's probably because you're not acting like one around me."

The words cut right through James, and he was silent in defeat. Was she insulting him or just trying to be the wise sister? He saw her don her golden aviators and fiddle with her phone stylus. James simply backed away and looked for his friends.

----

James oddly felt freer and more isolated in the packed pool. The myriad of voices and sounds coalesced into a single hum, and he lost within the crowd. Again and again, he sank to the bottom of the pool, held his breath, and then sprang to the surface for relief. The rough bottom was like sandpaper to his feet, but any activity was better than listening to his friends' conversation.

While they were respectful enough not to keep ragging on him, his roommates were ordinary men, and James knew he could either let them get what they just saw out of their systems, or he could deal with them being antsy around him because they're desperate to talk about the forbidden subject.

At a distance behind them, James bobbed in the pool and imagined the infuriating things they were saying, allowing it to fuel and justify his anger toward his sister. When their lips stopped moving, he figured it was finally safe. As he waded over to them, Harris said bluntly, "God, she's so sexy when she walks."

"Fuck you!" James smacked the water. Austin, Luke, and Harris spun around, stricken with horror. "Can you just ignore her? Please? Pretend she doesn't exist?!"

As much shame, guilt, and remorse as there was written on their faces, they looked equally worried, and they quickly snapped their heads back in the other direction. It dawned on James why Harris had mentioned Wendy's walk.

Standing above the edge of the pool, having heard every word of her little brother's outburst, was a blissfully smiling Wendy. "Is there room for me?"

"Uh... Yeah, of course," Luke welcomed. Austin meekly nodded.

Wendy sat down and slid into the water. When she popped up next to the guys, she could feel the unease. "So, James, is there some stuck-up bitch annoying you?"

Ah, shit. James knew that pretend-naive look and tone. He remembered that look from the night Wendy asked him if he had borrowed her car without asking. Of course, he did. He took it to meet a Tinder match in another town for a magnificent night where he had an orgasmic hookup for the ages. But Wendy knew the truth then, just as she did now. "Why would you think that?"

"I heard you say something about needing to ignore some girl. If you're having trouble getting her to leave you alone, you should ask me for help. I give good advice."

James wanted to go off, but he saw the silent pleas in his friends' eyes, begging him not to reveal the conversation they had just had. "It's no big deal. It was just some drunk girl shouting random stuff over there."

"Hmm, I guess I missed her." Wendy pursed her lips.

What the hell is his deal? No matter what you do or what you say, he has to find a problem with it! When his idiot friends were drooling over you five minutes ago, he said nothing. The message seemed to finally sink in. But no! Now you just wanna hang out in a fucking pool with him, and he's ordering his friends to pretend you don't exist. Well... at least he's consistent. Pretending you don't exist has been his strategy for the last five years, Wendy thought.

As small talk began to brew again, Wendy fiddled with the back of her swimsuit, scrunching her face in annoyance.

"Ya good?" Harris asked.

"Yeah..." Wendy sighed. "It's just those little, sliding-metal-clasp things on the back of my suit..."

"The slide buckles?" Luke corrected.

"Yeah, whatever they are, hah! They always slip down and are a pain in the ass to fix. I'd prefer not to have an incident I'll never live down." Suddenly, there was a symphony of giggles, and three of the men leaned closer. They were peeking at her wet cleavage and exposed neck, with strands of brown hair sticking to it. "As long as the clasps are even and not twisted, I'm in good shape, hah!"

Harris was taken aback by Wendy turning sideways and glancing back expectantly at him. "Umm... You want me to check?"

"They're the little orange things on my shoulder blades." Pushing off the concrete ledge with her forearm, she pried herself out of the water up to her navel. Her side boob became visible to the others, as her butt was tantalizingly below the shimmering surface before Harris. "Of course, they put them in the one spot you can't reach."

"Uh... They don't look messed up or anything. Maybe the right one is, like, half an inch lower than the left?"

Wendy didn't care, as her suit was fine. Her attention was on her brother and his predictably piercing gaze. His decree for his friends to ignore her didn't seem to be going to plan. "Yeah, that's what I was talking about. They slip. Can you just nudge that one up, then?"

A nervous poke pushed the metal buckle into her shoulder, and Wendy worked to keep her casual demeanor like this was nothing odd. After the pokes and prods failed, which she knew they would, she felt a tentative hand slide onto her warm back, followed by a pinch in her multi-layered section of the strap.

"Done."

Wendy dropped back into the water and said, "Awesome! If it stays together, I won't have to kill you." The roommates laughed while James stewed.

Harris, of course, inspected the results of his handiwork. In fact, all of the guys were checking out her tits, including James. Not that it surprised or bothered her. This was a large part of what she wanted him to understand: Men are hardwired to sexualize women, to like boobs, to like butts, to like attractive faces, to like fit bodies, to like women like her. It's nature. And in most cases, such as this, it was just men harmlessly scratching a monkey-brained itch.

Classmates, professors, and guys on the street viewed her in this light at first. And if they weren't into her, they'd still scratch that itch with her from time to time. Even family did it — cousins, uncles, and now her brother. The only place where it didn't happen was at work, where she took great care to cover up and tone it down. So, James could pressure his friends and deny reality all he wanted, but unless he moved into an apartment with all gay roommates, he had to learn to lighten the fuck up and get over himself.

Wendy looked into the pool water and swirled her hands. It wasn't as cool or clear as usual given the number of people in it. She realized she was avoiding looking up and seeing the tension she had caused between her brother and his friends. Had she gone too far?

I'm being a bitch. He's a really good guy, he always stood up for you and took care of you. This is all new for him, and he's taking it hard. Remember when he dated Eunice? Remember what she told you about him? She went on and on about how sweet he was and how great he was... Yeah, but you're not being a bitch. You're... Okay, you are being a bitch. But you have to be. If he's not even meeting you halfway, then you gotta push him. You have to force him to get over it. Once he does, he'll realize how much happier he is, and we can be friends again.