My parents chose to name me Josephine, but everyone else calls me "Jo". It's much shorter, and prettier than "Josephine". I don't like my name... When I introduce myself, I always say "Hi, I'm Jo". Josephine is really old fashioned, but I guess that's why my parents chose it, because they are really old fashion too.
We live in eastern France, a village so small you can't even call it a village. Ten houses, 30 people and an average of 60 years old among them. Lost in corn fields as far as the eye can see, the only thing higher than the crops is the tower of the church where everybody goes every Sunday for two long hours. I don't believe in God anymore, but I still pretend I do, because every young people of good family has to go to the church, as would my mother say.
We were only four young people in the village, all four of us daughters of peasants parents who relied on us for daily chores and field works some times every year... We were raised all four together, Gabrielle, Antoinette, Julie and I, same school thirty kilometers away, same high school even further. But now all over 20, I was the only one to go to college, studying agricultural engineering, my way to help my parents and the community. There I also learned English, not always good or accurate, but I could speak and understand the language well enough. Or write...
So luckily, I didn't stay home all year long, in fact I returned to my lost village only during the holidays, to see my family and friends, and tell them about the world. I would spend a few days helping my parents at home, and then they would consider that I had earned some spare time, and the four of us went on a bicycle trip in the countryside. There was a small river, only a few kilometers away, where the water was fresh and pure. We really loved this place.
We used to go there really often when we were in high school, but now I could only be home once every semester. The grass had grown really high and hid the trail we found across the woods... We left the bikes lying against trees and ran to the river like madmen. The sun was high in the sky, and the air so warm that we were all sweating. Gabrielle took her shirt off to cool herself, and the other did like her. They asked me if I wasn't too hot, and I lied, saying I was fine.
I watched them as they laid in the sun, and I found them perfect, with their muscular bodies and their fine faces. I had been bashful of my own body for so long... I wasn't fit as they were, actually I was rather chubby, with some fat under the skin of my belly which I found disgusting when I looked myself in a mirror. They had a nice tanned skin, often working in the fields under the sun, and I, locked in classroom all day long, I was pale. I even had freckles on my cheeks...
Unaware of my shame and envy, Julie decided to go in the water and swim to ease the warmth of the day. Before my jealous eyes, she took of her pants and her bra, only keeping her cotton panties. Her legs were as muscular as the rest of her body, and I couldn't take my eyes away from her magnificent breasts. Antoinette noticed it and giggled at me.
"- Julie, Jo's starring at your tits!"
I flushed red when Julie laughed. She looked at her breasts and closed her hand on them.
"- They're way too small. Your boobs are huge Jo, you're so lucky!"
Yes, they were huge... Actually, I had a D cup, but they were also really heavy, so heavy that sometimes when I tried to run to burn some fat, they hurt, even firmly closed in a bra. Julie made me jealous once again... But Gabrielle sighed as she took her bra of too, and showed us her breasts, or rather showed us she had none.
"- look at those tits! They are so tiny I look like a 10 years old girl..."
Then it was Antoinette's turn to show her breasts, and all three of them compared their bodies... Julie was really fond of Gabrielle's mouth, Antoinette found Julie's breasts to big, etc... I began to feel really sad, having so beautiful friends and finding myself unpleasant if not ugly. Then they started to speak about boys and it was too much for me. A tear rolled from my eye on my cheek
"- Jo? You're all right?"
My three friends starred at me, waiting for an answer, but when I tried to explain them my problem, I burst into tears. All three of them hugged me, kissing my hair and my front, trying to calm me, and finally I confessed them that I found myself ugly, that at 23 I was still a virgin and that I had lost all hope of finding a boyfriend who loved me and whom I loved. They laughed, and I thought they laughed at me, but no
"- Come on Jo, you're not ugly at all!!! You're different from us, but it doesn't mean you're not beautiful... In fact, I do find you kind of pretty, you know.
- She's right Jo... You're pretty...in your own way."
They managed to calm me a little, and I gave them a loving smile.
