Autumn Panic

Herbie and the pool

I had agreed to play netball on Wednesday nights with Summer as part of our deal to get her to play in the school softball team. I didn't play with her weekend netball team however due to clashes with my other softball commitments.

Summer proved to be a natural at first base so she joined my weekend softball team the Wolves playing at Fawkner Park in the Melbourne Metro League. Her netball schedule would only see her ten minutes late on three occasions due to clashes with her netball draw.

Summer was a strawberry blonde and wore a 50+ concealer to cover any freckles on her face. Her application made it look natural and blended with minimalist eye and lip liner. She portrayed a somewhat more flirtatious appearance than myself and definitely more than Winter. Her school uniform and for that matter most of her dresses or skirts were short enough so that they would rise up with slightest breeze to give a hint of her cheeks.

We didn't know at the time but she would sew down the pleats and sneakily alter her dresses so that they would fill with air and rise rather than flick up. When sitting or lying around she was ever so careful to reveal nothing.

"Oh Autumn," she would say "the secret is to get the boys to constantly look on the chance they may get a glimpse of something."

"Keep them wanting more" she would add with a laugh.

Her tops were either body hugging, offered a hint of cleavage or were loose at the sides to perhaps offer a chance fleeting view. She nearly always wore flats however so as not to increase her height. Her lengthy curvaceous legs didn't need any help to look longer. Her jewellery was always tastefully matched to what she wore and never more than a few items at any one time.

This was completely at odds with Winters approach which was simply not to draw any attention to herself at all. Her clothing was neither modest nor immodest nothing that would draw favourable or unfavourable comment; she just blended! Never a hint of anything. No piercing, her only item of jewellery was that oversized watch she wore.

I preferred the tomboy look with a touch of pizazz. Skinny or boot jeans was my staple with a skater or tank top. Rarely was I ever seen in dress away from school. Hanging with Summer though was beginning to change my view on how I should dress. I was very open to the idea of becoming a canvas for Summer. I liked her and I liked the way people treated her.

Winter's family always seemed to have family events on so we didn't spend a lot of time together on the weekends. Her weekday curfew was 7:00pm but we could never ascertain why this was so and we kept devising ways for Winter to breach the curfew. We never went to her house or for that matter ever met Winter's parents this was something we surely must correct. We needed to understand the forces we were competing with.

Most Saturday mornings we would hang out at the shopping mall and normally get either a coffee or chai latte from Daisy's. When Lucy Marsden started working at Daisy's we started alternating between GJ's and Coffee Hub.

Lucy also dressed to get the boys attention but there was never any subtlety. One or two many buttons undone at the top or a missing on undone button at the bottom to show off her ample boobs. Splits or torn sections on her dresses or skirts to show of her toned legs, no suggestion of any hinting here. Long dangling earrings, pierced tongue and belly button and if the rumours were true a pierced south pole as well.

She had a reputation for not holding anything back. Most pronounced her name as "Loosey". The boys however always showed more interest in Summer than Lucy. Most of the girls showed distain to Lucy and respect for Summer so I guess it was only natural that Lucy was always creating some tension for Summer and the seasons.

Finger marks in my Brownie and a foul taste in Summers latte signalled our need to change cafes.

I got around in a classic VW Beetle that had been restored to resemble the bug Lindsay Lohan had in her popular movies so obviously my car was called "Herbie". Whoever rebuilt it did a great job as I never had any breakdowns. I brought Herbie from a girl who was going to live in the UK and got a bargain as it had no log books and she wanted a quick sale.

I remember dad being so annoyed that I didn't get it mechanically checked out but Herbie has proved to be so reliable. Herbie sports a customised dashboard with fantastic surround speakers, hands-free phone controls and all manner of integration to the sound system. Enabling my friends or me to play music no matter what storage or operating device we use.

Dad was wrapped though when he discovered Herbie's modifications included front and side impact air bags and he was in awe of the Magnesium Alloys and just legal over width tires. Just like in the movie Herbie seems to have a little more grunt than you would expect from a sixties car. Despite this still manages to be a fuel miser getting better than twelve kilometres from a litre of standard fuel giving Herbie just over 360 kilometres driving range. I love my Herbie!

We decided to head to the pool and swim some laps. We rang Winter to see if she wanted to come along.

We had become close nevertheless pleasantly surprised when she said "You know I can't come sister." It was the first time she had ever called me sister. I responded with "Love you sister, miss you, bye".

"What's with the sister talk?" Summer enquired as she air quoted sister.

"I don't know! One minute she seemed somewhat distracted and the next thing she lovingly called me sister. So I returned the compliment."

"Sounds a little weird; but we're girls when all is said and done. Aren't we sister?" Summer said laughing as she said sister whilst hovering in to cuddle me.

We took Herbie or should I say he took us to the pool after stopping for our swim gear.

I wore a knee suit with wide straps and a tear drop back. Half Polyester half PBT making it is highly resistant to chlorine damage but frankly it's just a great fit and so comfortable in and out of the pool. The suit is black with diagonal brush strokes with white and various shades of purple blotches across the front. I of course had on a black pair of board shorts that I always wear whenever I'm not competing.

Summers suit is also a chlorine resistant one piece. It featured many vibrant multi-coloured random shapes, consisting of blue, orange, pink, green, yellow radiating out from the right shoulder dominating 80% of the front. It had orange shoulder straps that come together at the back to create an open back. Her suit otherwise is black and stops at the crutch with a modest medium cut to the top of the legs. Wow she looks hot.

Heads turn as we walk through the pool deck and place our towels on a chair just below the timing clock. I'd never noticed how many women check out the competition. They had no hesitation in holding their gaze unlike the men who tried to take frequent short duration sideward peeks. I felt a little jealous the eyes were on Summer and not me. Ewe I thought I was a tomboy. What's this girl doing to me?

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This chapter dedicated to watermelonseedx for being my very first reader as well as her friendly chats and feedback. Thanks so very much, Scott.