Author's note: this is the conclusion to the previously posted story,
The Nude Pioneer Ch. 03a
. These are the continuing adventures of Julie Johnson, an eighteen-year-old woman living in a near-future world in which public nudity has been legalized, but the culture is unchanged from our own.
*
Sarah stared at me in the empty aerobics classroom. She knew what I was going to suggest, but was waiting for me to say it.
"Ever since our weekend in Madison," I said, "I've been wondering when I'd get another chance to swim naked. The feeling is incredible. But..."
"But you don't want to do it alone," Sarah said, anticipating where I was going.
"Well, no. I mean, if I'm alone and I get caught, who knows what they'll think of me. Or what they'll do to me if I get caught by the wrong person," I said. "But if it's a group of girls skinny dipping..."
"...then it's just a bunch of friends having a lark. Gotcha."
"So I'm going to get Barb, and Shannon, and Emily, and see if they'd like to check if the pool is still unlocked, and do one last wild thing before graduation. Will you join us?" I asked.
"Nope," Sarah said, folding her arms.
"Oh come on! Why not?"
"Because I'm not like you," Sarah said. "I can't... do what you do. For example, I can't imagine just chilling out in front of my friends buck naked like you always do."
"But you've been naked in front of other people before. You've been naked in front of your boyfriends," I pointed out.
"Well, yes and no. I mean, with the guys I've dated we just... oh, God, I can't believe I'm talking about this with you... we just quickly strip off in the dark and get into bed. I've never, like, just stood in front of someone with everything all out in the open. So, doing that in front of a bunch of women, that's just not normal."
"You think I'm not normal?" I asked.
"No, not really, Naked Girl," she said with a smile.
"What about Barb?" Sarah's expression soured at the mention of her name. "What about Emily and Shannon? They didn't have any problem being nude in front of other women."
"That's different. You were showering."
"So?"
"That's one of the things you get naked for," Sarah said. "In my mind, you get naked for two things: to take a shower, and to have sex. And since I don't really need a shower right now, and I'm not that interested in sex with a bunch of women, the idea of just getting nekkid is a little weird."
"Why can't swimming be something you normally do naked?" I asked.
"Get serious."
"I am serious," I said. "I mean, what's the point of a swimsuit, anyway? You get in the water, it gets wet. Then when you get out you're walking around in this wet thing that provides no warmth. In fact, all it does is conduct heat away from your body and keep you damp longer than if you wore nothing. It makes no sense to me."
"So you think everyone should swim naked?" asked Sarah.
"What do you think people did before they had swimsuits?"
"Um... not go swimming?" Sarah suggested.
"My grandpa told me that, back when he was in high school, when the boys did swimming in gym, they did it without suits."
"You mean STARK FUCKING NAKED?!" Sarah shouted in disbelief.
I nodded.
Sarah got a distant look on her face. "I just had the most splendid vision form in my head." I had to giggle at that.
"So, are you in?" I asked.
"No. I just can't," she said. But then, after a sigh and a pause, "Well, maybe I could, but you would have to agree to do something in return."
This could be trouble. "It depends on what it is," I said.
"Well, you know that dream you told me about? The one where you're giving your speech at graduation, and you take off your gown and you're naked in front of everyone?"
"No." I said. "No fucking way, Sarah. Think about it. That's in front of everyone in the class. My parents. The whole community. I'd be disowned. I'd never be able to return to town again."
"Fine then. You can skinny dip without me."
"Sarah!"
Sarah just sat there with her arms crossed.
"Sarah, all I'm asking you to do is be naked for a short time, with just with a few people who are also naked. What you're asking me to do would end my life as I know it. Can't you see that's a bit disproportionate?"
"Well, I'm very shy. You obviously are not."
"Can't you think of something else?" I pleaded.
Sarah sighed again. "Ok... If I agree to go nude with you, you and I both go to Lake Winnetonga."