Closure

Skinny Dipping (2)

Tonight my friends Carter and Gina are joining us.
Carter was a nerdy boy, tall and blonde and a little tan. He had abs and tattoos, like the stereotypes that straight women our age seem to lean towards. He was a flirt, but it seemed girls never really wanted a relationship with him. I'm not sure if something about him gave them "the ick", or if he just chose to opt out of the commitment.
It's perhaps the reason he chose to be my friend.
Like Carter, Gina had blond hair. We were frenemies. When people hear that word they often think of two friends that are jealous of each other, but it's really one sided in our case. She was 18, 2 years younger than I was, and she reminded me of my younger self. I've only known her about a year, but a year was enough to recognize the toxicity of her personality. Some sort of copycat complex.
People said we looked alike, but it was only at certain angles.
Every time I would do something new, she'd seen it as a threat, pulling the attention away from her.
I'd announce I was planning to dye my hair purple, so nobody else would. I'd drive to her house the next day with lavender dip-dyed locks, and her entire head of hair would be purple.
She would follow my girlfriends on their socials, and I would follow her boyfriends in return.
She'd text me, of course, fuming about how disrespectful I was being. And when I'd check to see who she's following once again, she had suddenly unfollowed my partner.
I'd block her for a month or two, until she made a new account. Then she'd say sorry, and suggest we hang out.
Because I feel responsible for her, I always fall for it.
The stick-n-poke heart she tattooed on her hip didn't match the flashy one piece bathing suit she wore tonight.
I'm positive she wore it to one-up me.
Embarrassingly, she couldn't outshine Jamie, who was effortlessly beautiful.
She had on no makeup, or so it appeared. Her hair was pulled back loosely by a claw clip, large hoop earrings acting as decorative ornaments for her neck. Her bikini mimicked an American flag. While it wasn't entirely skimpy, her features showed themselves off like a trophy on a pedestal.
We'd sat ourselves at a picnic table my uncle had placed in the backyard, a few feet from the lake.
Carter set up his tackle box while the females gathered towels for a swim.
"Your friend's looking awful pretty.", Carter complimented as we made our way down.
"Thanks.", smiled Gina swaying her hips more when she walked, on purpose.
We looked at each other knowingly, he wasn't talking about her.
Jamie caught us exchanging glances and gave a smirk.
"Keep that rod away from us.", she joked about his half boner in his superhero swim trunks.
"I wouldn't want a fish hook in my ass cheek."
"Ohh, you meant the fishing pole. Don't worry, I'm gonna head towards the dock."
She gave a thumbs up and we all stepped into the water.
It was cold, but refreshing for this time of year. The house looked alot prettier from in the water, it was multiple stories with several stained glass windows. The inside was mostly polished wood, with yellow lighting that was kinda tacky, but definitely fit the setting. My uncle had chosen to decorate himself, adding deer head mounts to the living room walls and lawn chairs to the balcony.
There were rocks at the bottom of the bank, and they were slimy but jagged.
'Fuck this.', I thought, diving closer to the deep end to avoid scrapes on my soles.
A branch caught my bottoms, I had no choice but to remove them entirely before I drowned.
Upon surfacing, I gasped a deep breath.
The other girls had joined me at the far end of the water, their hair wet and looking flabbergasted.
"What the fuck?", yelled Gina.
"Why'd it take you so long to come up?"
"I-...I was just playing a joke on you guys,",I lied,
"You should've seen the looks on your faces."
The two sighed in relief, Gina splashing me annoyedly.
It started an all-out splash war.
I moved my hands like a water bender, making lots of noise. We got closer and closer, having to shield ourselves from hitting each other in the face.
Carter shouted from the dock, "I'll join you guys in a second, we should play chicken!"
No, no no no fuck no.
"Actually,",I called back, "I'm getting kind of hungry."
"Come on.", pleaded Gina.
"Don't be a square.", Jamie chimed in.
I sulked, what choice did I have?
"Gina," I asked, knowing she would use it against me if I walked out of the water butt-naked, "can you pleeaasse grab me a beer from inside? Then I'll stay."
She rolled her eyes jokingly, heading to shore. "No."
I turned to Jamie to explain my situation.
"Here's the deal. My bikini got caught on something and I had to take it off. What do I do?"
We locked eyes, hers were seductive.
She unraveled her bikini top and threw it into the lake.
"What are you doing?!?!?", I nearly screamed.
"Look, it's not shameful if everyone else is doing it. Then it's a trend."
She removed her bottoms, I stared nervously.
She approached me, untying my own top. A couldn't help the shiver that traveled up my spine in response to our shared gaze.
Or her light touch.
"That's what I like to see.", Carter vocalized at the edge of the water.