The First Swim of Summer

All characters are fictional and over the age of 18. Any resemblance to real people, places, or events are purely coincidental.

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My name is Jamie and I am currently standing naked on the edge of Lake Michigan, water dripping off my body as I watch the sunrise over the water. It's the first weekend in May, the weekend that typically comes after exam week. My four best friends are standing next to me, just as naked, just as wet. Two guys are also here, although their hands are clasped around their junk, probably to hide their shrinkage. How did we get here, you might be wondering? Well let me tell you.

The seven of us first made our way to this beach after a long night of drinking, cake eating, and smoke billowing out of my kitchen.

Yeah, I'll get to the smoke part soon.

It was the end of our junior year, the morning after exams ended. Bree, Jessica, Spencer, and Leah all turned 21 during the last week of the spring semester: Bree on Monday May 1, Jessica and Spencer on Wednesday May 3, and Leah on Saturday May 6, although her party was Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning. I turned 21 back in October, so I spent most of the year keeping our house stocked with booze.

Our house was nicknamed "The Hollow," a three bed, two bath ranch-style house, 344 Hollow Street, Whitefish Bay, just north of Milwaukee. The Hollow was in a surprisingly nice quiet wooded neighborhood a short 12 minute walk from campus. By shoving five of us into a house zoned for three, we were able to get by with fairly cheap rent: $2200 per month split five ways is nothing compared to the $1200 per month each in the dorms on our college's campus, where you also aren't allowed to throw parties, drink alcohol, have boys over past midnight, and so on.

I shared the master bedroom with Bree, and we had our own bathroom connected to our bedroom. Bree got most of the walk-in closet while I had a large dresser at the end of my bed. Jessica and Spencer shared the next largest bedroom, which still had dented walls from the twin boys that called this bedroom their own in a previous life. Leah had her own bedroom, although it was probably meant to be an office, only large enough for a twin bed, nightstand, and small dresser. Jessica, Spencer, and Leah shared the other bathroom, and all had smaller bedrooms than the master Bree and I shared, so we split the rent $425 per month for the three of them and $475 per month for Bree and me.

What made The Hollow special was the lack of lousy neighbors. We had the cops called on us for noise complaints and underage drinking while partying at almost all of our friends' houses. In our neighborhood, however, the wooded areas between the houses blocked most of the typical loud noises of a college party, music, yelling when someone sank a shot in beer pong, accidental car alarm set off, etc. The large lot size also helped, our nearest neighbors were almost a hundred yards away instead of the typical 40-50 feet in most of the other neighborhoods near campus.

Because it was birthday week for the girls at The Hollow (minus me), we threw parties three nights that week: one for Bree on Monday, another for Jessica and Spencer on Wednesday, and an all out party for Leah on Friday (to celebrate her birthday at midnight), which was also an end-of-the-year party. For Bree's party, we had a few of our closest friends over for a game night that started with a fierce game of Monopoly but turned into random drinking games. Since it was Bree's 21st, we still all ended up drunk by the end of the night and woke up barely in time for our afternoon exams on Tuesday.

That night, Bree had been forced to drink upwards of a dozen shots of tequila and vodka: everytime she lost a round during our drinking games she had to take two shots to the rest of our one shot. She had passed out on the living room couch, and since I had remained the most sober (I only lost two rounds, although I was still quite drunk from sipping on cheap Aldi "Champagne" the entire night), I was in charge of making sure she didn't throw up on the carpet or the couch. Thankfully, a few pieces of toast and some tea kept her from ruining our living room carpet and furniture.

For Jessica and Spencer, we threw a bit of a bigger party. It started with a nice meal with about a dozen of our closest friends: I threw four boxes of pasta on the stove in an oversized stock pot my mom had lent me, three boxes of Texas toast in the oven, and three jars of pasta sauce warmed up in the microwave. A $20 meal that fed 15 of us, and was plenty good for a bunch of broke college students. Our meal was followed by a few too many shots of tequila afterward, everyone making toasts to the new 21-year-olds. A few rounds of fireball that almost everyone dreaded, and lots and lots of beer pong followed as more friends and friends of friends showed up. Thankfully none of us had an exam on Thursday. Many of us girls ended up crashing out on the floor and couches in the living room, only three people walking home early because they had exams the next day. The guys thankfully respected our drunked vulnerability and left once things started to die down, and no one ended up hooking up unintentionally or going home with a guy she barely knew.

Friday we all had our last exams: I had one in the morning, the rest of my housemates had exams for both the morning and afternoon sessions. I finished my last exam (English 344 Advanced Composition) very quickly. It started at 8:30 with a cutoff time of 11:30. Even though I was the second to last one to finish, I still got it done in just over an hour. The final term paper for the class had been the true test of advanced composition, so the exam was just an overview of concepts we had learned that semester. I was so happy to end the year off with an easy exam.

Since I had time to kill, I began prepping for Leah's party on the way home from campus. I had already collected a few bucks at the last two parties from each of our core group of friends so that I could order a cake and pizza ahead of time without having to put too much on my credit card. I drove into town to pick up the cake, and stopped at the liquor store on the way home to get a few more bottles of the hard stuff. We had drunk most of our semester's worth of half-opened bottles of liquor at our last two parties, so we needed to restock for the all-out end of the year/Leah's birthday party tonight. I got a couple bottles of Jack, Jose, and Tito's, plus an assortment of beer from the liquor store. We had about a half dozen bottles of cheap "champagne" ($6 at Aldi!) from the previous parties leftover as well. The champagne was cheap and probably contributed to our hangovers the next day, but the sweet bubbly drink was a quick and cheap way to get buzzed.

While I was in town, I tried to find the perfect gift for Leah. She was the shyest of the group, so I wanted to get her something to get her out of her comfort zone. Just two stores down from the bakery was a boutique. It was tailored to the post-grad 20-40 year old crowd, which meant they had a surprisingly good supply of lingerie for newlyweds and anniversary surprises that followed.

I picked out a cute babydoll nightie for Leah, a shade of baby blue to match her eyes. She was about the same height as me, around 5'5". Although I had bigger boobs (I'm a full C cup or a slightly less full D cup, depending on the brand of bra, but she's probably closer to a B cup), we had similar build elsewhere so estimating her size was pretty easy, I just picked out what would fit me. We both have blue eyes, although hers are much more blue while mine lean towards grayish-blue. Of course the biggest difference between our appearances is the hair and skin tone: Leah is a natural ginger with very pale skin that erupts in freckles after just a few minutes in the sun, while I'm a dirty blonde or light brunette who tans easily.

The built-in bra cups of the lingerie I had picked out for Leah were padded fabric covered in lace to make the cleavage really pop, but everything from the cups down was sheer. It came with a matching set of panties, also lace, but with sheer lining in a cheeky cut. Depending on Leah's preference towards (or lack thereof), some pubic hair would likely be seen through the sheer fabric. The top was just long enough to cover the panties, but not much further. Any movement would show off the lovely lace bottoms and the bottoms of Leah's ass cheeks.

The store was holding a buy one get one 50% off sale on lingerie sets, so I found a similar set in black for myself. I'm a bit of an exhibitionist, so even though I don't currently have a boyfriend to wear this for, I was sure it would come in use soon enough. Mine was silk, with black lace around the bra. However, mine didn't have any lining; although it would be hard to see through the small holes of the lace, in the right light, temperature, and/or arousal, I'm sure my nipples would be poking out. The panties were a thong, black with some lace around the waist band.

When I got home, I threw the booze in the freezer to get cold, and hopped in the shower. Like I mentioned before, the rest of The Hollow had afternoon exams, so I had the house to myself for a while. In the shower my mind wandered to the lingerie I had just bought. I'm sure it would make Leah blush when she opened it. Then, an idea hit me, a way to get Leah out of her comfort zone. After a few more minutes of hot water, I got out of the shower, dried off, and wrapped a towel around me.

In my room at my desk, I found some note cards and a sharpie. I wrote a note on one of them and slipped it inside Leah's gift bag:

Happy Birthday! Wear only this to the party tonight. I got a set too, so if you do, I will too. <3 Jamie.

I got dressed, did my hair and makeup, and tidied up the house a little bit while I waited for my roommates to get home. They trickled in, Jessica and Bree at the same time around 4:00 (they drove to campus together since they were both taking English 332: British Literature), Spencer a half hour later at 4:30 (Chem 345: Physical Chemistry), and Leah almost an hour later after that around 5:30 (Stat 321: Advanced probability). The afternoon exam session started at 2:00, so Leah had used the entire time slot.

"That exam was so easy," said Bree. Jessica nodded in agreement.

"Mine wasn't too bad either. Short, but some difficult problems," said Spencer. "Probably will get a B+ or so, not anything that will affect my grade for the semester."

"Mine absolutely sucked. Probably failed. Probably failed probability. How ironic..." mumbled Leah. "What a shitty way to end the year. At least the TA let us go an extra fifteen minutes beyond the time limit because only one guy had left by the end of the three hours. Although he left with like an hour left, I think he just gave up and turned it in."

"And at least it's your birthday!" I said in an exaggerated cheerful voice. "I got done at 9:30."

"Fuck you, miss I-got-all-my-exams-done-already," Bree said, mockingly. "At least you took the time to get some of this booze chilled down."

She popped open a bottle of champagne. Bree was the wild one of the group, always the first to drink, first to get drunk, but the last to pass out or throw up at the end of the night. She had dark brown hair, a nose ring, and a fit-yet-thick body. She was around 5'2" tall, wore a D cup bra (actually a sports bra most of the time), but had an ass that made the boys stare whenever she deadlifted at the gym.

"To the end of the semester!" Bree shouted, after splitting the bottle five ways.

"To the end of the semester!" we all responded, downing the first bottle of the evening.

We chatted about exams and classes, plans for the summer, and other random bullshit to kill the time. We drank another bottle of cheap champagne and took a shot or two of vodka. I was getting a little bit buzzed when I remembered Leah's gift. I quickly ran to my room, grabbed it off my desk, and brought it back to the kitchen table.

"Happy birthday, Leah. Hope you like it!" I said.

Leah pulled the tissue paper out of the gift bag, read the card, blushed, and proceeded to pull the lingerie out of the bag.

"Damn girl!" said Spencer. "That's so sexy."

Leah blushed some more. "Thanks Jamie. I love it." She stood up and gave me a quick hug before stuffing it back into the bag and bringing it back to her room.

"She better put that to good use," said Bree, before Leah returned.

I winked. "Oh, I think she will."

Around 8:00 the first few of our friends began showing up, followed shortly by the pizza guy, James. Turns out he was also in Leah's probability class, and she invited him to stick around. He was a tall, sexy senior, probably 6'1" and 190 lbs. His brown hair fell in ringlets around his face, and his muscular arms were tight in his Domino's polo.

"My shift doesn't end until 11:30, but I'll stop by after," he said. "Happy birthday, Leah." He winked at her before turning and walking back to his car.

Leah closed the door behind him. Slowly, she turned to face the rest of us who were starting to sort through the pizza boxes, looking for one with our favorite toppings. Being a redhead, her face was bright red from blushing.

"Looks like Leah's got a crush on someone!" joked Spencer.

Spencer was the volleyball player turned rock climber in the group. At around 5'9" tall, she was somewhat lanky and skinny from all of the volleyball during high school and rock climbing during college. She had small boobs and butt, but she didn't mind flaunting her hard abs and toned legs in a tiny bikini on the beach.

"Shut up!" retorted Leah.

"Ooo someone's getting feisty, time for her birthday spankings!" joked Jessica.

Jessica was one of those "check every box for your typical midwest girl" type of girls. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs, drove a Ford Escape, played soccer in high school in the fall, ran track in the winter and spring. She had neither a memorable face or body, just your typical 5 foot 4 inch, 125 pound, B cup bra wearing, average ass, 21-year-old. Her eyes were a greenish-brown and her hair fell a little below her shoulders, straightened on most days, but slightly wavy on days she let it go natural. It was almost always pulled back in a ponytail or bun though. She wore plaid flannel with Patagonia vests and black leggings about ¾ of the time over the fall and winter, switching out the vest and leggings for jean shorts and t-shirts in the spring and summer.

"Yeah get over here!" yelled Spencer, jumping up from her seat and lunging at Leah.

"Stop it you guys, you're sooo embarrassing!" Leah rolled her eyes.

Her and Spencer had a running joke about birthday spankings. They were roommates in the dorms freshman year, and Leah had given Spencer a quick swat on her ass on her birthday that year. Spencer had gotten revenge a few days later on Leah's birthday, but on the way back from the dorm's communal showers. She had lifted Leah's towel to get a clear shot at her bare ass, and the sound of the smack and squeak from Leah had resulted in the RA poking her head out the door and laughing at her. Back at their dorm, Leah had shown Spencer the perfect red handprint on her right butt cheek.

The night continued, with plenty of drinks and pizza consumed. By 11:00, we were all fairly tipsy, and our house was fuller than it had been at any party that semester. There were more people here because it was the end of the semester and no one had an excuse to miss out. There were mostly juniors from our class, with a few seniors and sophomores who we knew from classes or were invited friends of friends. There was even a group of freshmen who came for a while but didn't interact with anyone outside their little friend group. What's the point in going to a party if you're only going to talk among yourselves?

That night, I flirted with a few guys, but spent the most time with Jackson. He's a junior like us, a former high school baseball player who stays in shape by going to the gym 3-4 times a week. He has long curly blonde hair that he's been growing out all of college. When I first met him freshman year it barely covered his ears. Now, it's down to his shoulders and he often ties it up in a man bun.

I spent a while sitting on Jackson's lap while he played a drinking dice game with a few others at the kitchen table. I even took shots with him when he lost a couple of rounds. Like I had mentioned earlier, I didn't currently have a boyfriend, but Jackson was as close to one as I did. Jackson and I had nearly hooked up twice this year, getting to the "groping through clothes while making out" stage... what is that, second base, maybe? It never went any further though: the first time, we were on his living room couch when his roommate who was supposed to be out of town for an away baseball game came through the door. We were off by a night, his game was Saturday not Friday. The second time we were both too drunk to make anything happen. We were again at his house. He had paused our little makeout session to go to the bathroom, probably to grab a condom from the cabinet, and I immediately passed out as soon as he was out the door. Spencer found him passed out on the bathroom floor when she had woken up the next morning, his shorts around his ankles like he was ready to use the toilet, an unopened condom in his hand. Maybe tonight would be different though?

About 10 minutes before midnight, Jessica came up to me. "Hey, should we get the cake ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll be there in a minute," I replied.

I got up off Jackson's lap, and made my way through the crowd. I needed to find Leah. She was talking to one of her closest friends (besides us in The Hollow who were so close we sometimes forgot we all had other friends who didn't live with us).

"Hey, can I talk to you a sec?" I interjected, putting an arm on Leah's lower back.

"Sure. I'll be back in a minute, Jade," she replied. We made our way to the hallway that our bedrooms were off of.

"Did you get my note in your gift?" I asked.

"I did."

"And?" I raised my eyebrows.

"No way, I can't do that!" Leah blushed again.

"Remember, I will if you will," I said, reassuringly.

I could tell Leah was weighing the options. If we both went out there, she wouldn't look like a slut, right? Plus it was her birthday, birthday girl in her (almost) birthday suit, right?

"No way, sorry Jamie," she said. She began heading back toward the party. I knew I had to up my offer.

"I'll skip the panties," I said, sweetening the deal. Leah stopped, her eyes wide.

Leah knew I was somewhat casual about nudity. I often walked around The Hollow in only a bra and panties or sometimes just an XL t-shirt with nothing underneath. Since my bathroom was connected to my bedroom, I rarely took clothes in there, usually coming out in just a towel, although Bree was the only one who really saw that happen.

Once, during the first week of the fall semester when it was still in the 80s and sunny, Leah and Jessica had come back from class to find me tanning topless on the back patio. With no neighbors in sight, our back patio was a perfect venue for getting some sun where it normally doesn't shine. Almost all of my nudity had been within the confines of this house. And, all of my nudity had been when very few others had been around, only the girls that lived here. I did sneak off to a topless beach once while vacationing with my family, although I couldn't force myself to flip onto my back. I was barely 18 at the time, and although I had come to the beach to get away from my family it seemed weird to be topless in a place where they might show up looking for me. I had gone skinny dipping in my friend's pool in high school on a dare, and I had once used our hot tub nude while my parents were out of town. Nudity didn't really bother me, as long as I wasn't upsetting anyone else and wasn't in danger of being assaulted, why not?