The Platform Dive

This story is a work of fiction. Some real places and institutions are mentioned or implied, but they are used fictitiously here. As far as the author knows, no real person affiliated with any of those places or institutions has done anything akin to what is described in this story. Any similarities between any character in this story and any real person are coincidental and unintended. I encourage comments on this story, both favorable and unfavorable. Thank you for reading.

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Carly Durre and I were both athletes in college. Carly was a diver on the women's team. I was a swimmer on the men's team. However, we met in a European history class sophomore year. We were in the same discussion group. Carly had a gorgeous face with short brown hair, an upturned nose, high cheekbones, a strong jaw, large blue eyes, and a smile that could light-up a room. Interacting with her in the discussion group, I learned that Carly was also very intelligent, articulate, and, occasionally, very funny.

The men's team typically had practice after the women's team, there was only one practice pool. I arrived at practice early about a week after I'd met Carly. Walking out of the locker room onto the pool deck, I almost bumped into her. She smiled, said hello, and walked on towards the springboard. As she walked on in her suit, I got a good view of a tight ass above long, elegant legs. As she stood on the diving board, I couldn't help but admire the flat stomach and perfectly proportioned breasts outlined by her suit. Carly Durre was a very beautiful, and sexy, young woman.

Carly and I were both history majors, so we ended up having several classes together. As I interacted with her more, I learned that her personality was even more attractive than her appearance. By the start of our junior year, Carly and I had become good friends. Unfortunately, we did not become lovers. Carly was dating a music student named Keith, who sang with a soulful voice and played piano and guitar. A mere jock like me couldn't compete.

I did see Carly naked once during college. Although I had no inkling at the time, that incident led to what happened later. Carly had a pretty good senior year diving, qualifying for the national championships. I missed qualifying in the 100 fly by two one-hundredths of a second, an eon in swimming. After the season was over for both teams, we had a party for the senior swimmers. The party was on a Saturday night at the apartment two senior women swimmers shared a couple of blocks off campus.

Most of us had reached twenty-one, so there was some beer and wine at the party. Better still, Carly came to the party by herself. When I asked, she said that Keith, who was in a band, was playing a gig in the city. With swimmers from the two teams along with boyfriends and girlfriends, there were around thirty people at the party. While many of the people were friends of mine, I spent most of the party talking with Carly. She didn't seem to mind.

By midnight, we were all a little buzzed, although I don't think anyone was trashed. One of the girls hosting the party called out, "we should go to the pool. It's our last chance to swim together!" The natatorium was only a few blocks away and most of us knew the security code to get in after hours. Several of us left the party for the pool. Most of the group changed their minds, another beer seeming more inviting than chlorinated water. However, six of us got to the pool: Carly and two other girls, Jana and Lynne, and me, Matt, and Shane. The natatorium was, of course, empty at that hour.

When the six of us reached the pool deck, Shane said, "Ok, now what? None of us brought suits."

"We're skinny dipping, silly," Jana retorted. To emphasize the point, Jana pulled off her top, undid her bra, and dropped both on the deck. Jana kicked off her shoes and unbuckled her jeans, I noticed Carly and Lynne starting to undress. I was perfectly happy to skinny dip with Carly. Jana and Lynne were also friends, so I began to undress. We had not turned on any lights, but the night lights, which were on all the time, were bright enough that we could see each other clearly.

In moments, Carly, Jana, Lynne, and I were naked. I did, of course, look at Carly. She was more beautiful naked than I'd imagined. I thought Carly was looking at me but dismissed that idea as wishful thinking.

There was a problem. Matt and Shane were still clothed and showed no signs they were about to undress. "Come on guys," Jana said, "get naked like Peter!" The two guys just stood there, staring at the three naked women.

I couldn't deny that the three women were worth staring at, but I thought it was unfair for the guys just to be gawkers. "Come on guys," I said, "strip off or leave."

"Fuck off Peter," Matt said. I wasn't going to let that go, first because I'd been drinking some and, second, because I was being challenged in front of the women.

"I mean it," I said. "Get naked or get out!"

"You're going to throw us out?" Matt replied.

"If I have to," I said, and started walking towards him.

I need to explain that I was large for a swimmer and muscular. A year earlier, for laughs, I had agreed to wrestle a wrestling team member who was a little bigger than me. The wrestler didn't take our bout seriously, which allowed me to pin him. I knew well I could never have done that had my opponent been wrestling seriously, but it did give me a reputation.

Shane had been quiet. However, as I walked towards the two clothed young men, he said, "Matt, I don't think it's smart to fuck with Peter."

Matt was sizing the situation up. He had also been drinking and, of course, didn't want to back down in front of three attractive women. On the other hand, I was bigger than Matt and Matt knew that, if there was a fight, he'd be on his own. Shane's comment made clear he wasn't going to get into it with me. Matt finally said, "fuck you Peter. I'm not getting into it with a naked guy. Let's go Shane." Matt and Shane walked out of the pool. A few seconds later, I heard a steel outside door on the building slam shut. I expected that to set off an alarm, but it didn't.

I turned around to see Carly, Jana, and Lynne standing on the pool deck, naked and smiling. "Good job!" Jana said.

Carly stepped to me. "My hero," she said. Keeping her body out of contact with mine, she leaned forward and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

You're probably expecting me to tell you that I fucked at least one of the girls beside the pool that night. I didn't. That would have caused problems with my then girlfriend, who had declined to go to the party. I also feared ruining my friendship with Carly. All we did was swim; although I did get to wash all three girls' upper backs when we showered off together. Karen, my girlfriend, was a little suspicious when she came to my apartment the next morning and found me in what she called "a silly mood."

My first class the following Monday was a small senior seminar that Carly was also in. She came up to me in the hall after the seminar. "Peter, I want to thank you for being a gentleman Saturday night," she said. Then, she added, "you look pretty nice naked."

"Thank you," I replied. "You are very beautiful naked."

Carly didn't say anything for a moment. I was silently cursing my big mouth when she broke into one of her high wattage smiles and said, "thank you."

My relationship with Karen ended at graduation. She was off to med school in Baltimore. I had graduated with honors and my faculty adviser had urged me to get a Master's. I would have except, with my swimming scholarship over, I couldn't afford to. Hoping to make a little money and qualify for a staff tuition rate in a couple of years, I got a job in the University Archivist's office. Carly had also graduated with honors. I was surprised when Carly told me she was taking a job at a private swim club in Ohio.

"I'm going to be 'aquatic director,'" Carly explained. "The club has swimming and tennis. It's run by a non-profit. The woman who heads the board swam with Coach Deardorf in college. Coach D recommended me. The members are primarily adults, so I won't have to run swim classes for little kids. Its in a college town, which is nice. Low cost of living and I'll make some money while I figure out what to do next."

I asked what Keith thought about her plans. "Nothing," Carly answered. "He's got an opportunity to be a studio musician in Nashville. His music career comes first with him." Personally, I thought Carly was worth sacrificing any career, but that wasn't a decision I'd ever have to make.

Keith was already gone, so I helped Carly move out of her apartment after graduation. I had time since I was staying in Chicago and didn't have to move. I was more than a little sad as Carly drove off. I didn't expect to see her again. She was such a great person, and so beautiful and, well, sexy. I wished we had become lovers, but I was sure I'd have killed a great friendship if I'd ever tried to push things that way.

I didn't meet many people working for the Archivist in the basement of the old university library building, and I didn't have the money to be going to bars on the weekends. To be around people as much as anything else, I picked up a second gig as a graduate assistant swim coach for $ 750 for the season. I learned more about swimming that year as a grad assistant, basically a gofer for the real coaches, than I had learned during the years I'd been a swimmer. A fringe benefit was that I could still workout in the athletic department facilities.

By the following Spring, I was frustrated. What little I earned was eaten up by living expenses and the University had changed its rules to lengthen the time you had to be on staff before you were eligible for reduced grad school tuition. I needed a Plan B, but I wasn't coming up with one.

My phone rang on a Sunday morning in early May. I didn't get many calls any time, and never on a Sunday morning. When I answered the phone, I heard a voice I'd not heard in almost a year.

"Peter, its Carly Durre," Carly said. "Remember me? Sorry if I woke you up, but this was the only time I could think of when I thought sure I'd catch you in."

I was a little ashamed of how thrilled I was to hear Carly's voice again. Couldn't I move on from college? "No, I was up," I said. "It's great to hear from you, but I'm curious why it was important that you catch me in person. I do have voicemail."

Carly laughed. I'd always loved the musical quality to her laugh. "We haven't talked in almost a year, so I wasn't sure you'd call me back. And, well, if I took the time to leave a message and wait for you to call back, I might talk myself out of what I want to ask you."

"Now, you really have my curiosity piqued," I said. "What do you want to ask?"

"Uh, well," Carly said, "I let my mouth get me into something and I need a partner in crime."

That was an odd thing to say I thought. "What crime?" I asked.

"Not a real crime," Carly replied. "I just let my enthusiasm carry me away and promised to do something. If I'm really going to do it, I'm going to need a partner. I was thinking about that time we skinny dipped at the natatorium, I remember that often, and I thought you'd be the perfect."

Mentioning the skinny dipping increased my curiosity. "What do you need?" I asked.

"Ok," Carly said. "I need to give you a bit of background. The club where I work has a 25-meter pool, diving well, and tennis courts which are all outdoors. That means we're closed for the season once it gets cold. I work a few hours a week in the off season, but I had to take a job at the mall by the Interstate this past winter. I told you the club is owed by a non-profit, right? They had their membership meeting a week ago. Martha Davis, the president of the board, announced a campaign to raise money to enclose things so we can be open year-round. They need $ 10 million."

"That's a shitload of money," I commented.

"Yeah, it is," Carly said. "Anyway, I was at the meeting. People were debating how they'd raise that kind of money. There is a very rich guy who lives in a mansion outside of town and belongs to the club, Jeremy Snow. He stood up and said he had a plan. He wanted the club to have a fundraising event the weekend of July 4. The 'featured attraction" as he put it would be me, diving from the 10-meter platform in the nude and I would stay nude for the rest of the event. If I would do that, Mr. Snow would donate the whole $ 10 million so whatever we raise at the event would be extra."

"I'm from Ohio and know Ohioans," I said. "I'm sure everyone else called him a dirty old man and killed that idea immediately."

"I think he is a dirty old man, and I'm not crazy about how he leers at me," Carly said, "but this is a college town. Everyone wants to think they're open-minded and progressive. This is the sort of edgy thing people here like. Martha and the rest of the board thought it was a great idea. Of course, it was 'purely voluntary' for me. Yeah, right. When I didn't say yes immediately, Mr. Snow added that it would be ok if my boyfriend dived with me, so long as we're both naked and stay naked. Martha Davis, my boss, said she'd appreciate it if I did it. As I thought about it, I got a little excited. Anyway, I said I would."

"Wow," I said. "Is your boyfriend going to do it too?"

"Peter, that's why I'm calling," Carly said. "I don't have a boyfriend. I want you to do it with me. Will you?"

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?" I asked.

"Well," Carly said, "I just haven't found anyone who appeals to me that much. There's a guy I go out with occasionally, Randall, but he wouldn't do this, and I wouldn't want to do it with him. I do want someone to dive with me. I started thinking about who I'd be comfortable with going naked in public. You were the only person I came up with."

"You called me because you couldn't think of anyone else?" I asked teasingly. "That makes me feel great. Also, I don't know how to dive, especially not from 10 meters up."

"Peter," Carly said, "I just told you you're the only guy with whom I'd be comfortable going naked in public. That's a compliment. As for your diving skills, that's why I'm calling now. The dive is almost two months off. I can teach you in that time. You're athletic. You'll pick it up quickly."

"You want me to come there right away?" I asked.

"Yes," Carly said. "If we're going to do this, we must do it right. You need training."

"And the idea is to dive naked in front of a crowd of people and then stay naked among them?" I asked.

"Yes," Carly said. "The dive will start the event. Then we're expected to stay nude and mingle. Two, maybe three, hours tops. We can stay together all that time."

The idea of being naked with Carly in a crowd of clothed people was surprisingly exciting. Still. "I have a job," I said, "They won't give me two months off."

"Peter," Carly said, "I need you. Please."

Yes, I am a sucker for a beautiful woman. I gave my notice to the Archivist that Monday, effective immediately. That burned a bridge. I'd have to pay one more month's rent on my apartment, but I was in my old car with what little I owned Tuesday morning, heading southeast.

Being from Central Ohio, I had heard of the town in the southwest of the state that Carly lived in, but I'd never been there. It was miles off the Interstate. Carly had given me an address at which to meet her. The Google maps directions took me through town. The town seemed smaller than even the small suburbs around Chicago, but it looked like a nice place. Lots of trees and not a lot of traffic. A traditional town square surrounded by buildings which looked like they'd been built in the 19th Century. Everything looked clean and cared for.

It was around 1:00 p.m. when I arrived in what looked like a new townhouse-style condo complex. I found the number Carly had given me and parked. Carly came out of the unit as I was getting out of my car. "Nice place," I said. "Will they tow my car if they don't see yard tools in the back?"

Of course, I had thought about Carly a lot during the year since I'd seen her last. On the drive down, I'd convinced myself that I had romanticized her and that she would not be as beautiful as my mental image. She had let her light brown hair grow almost to her shoulders. It looked good on her. In a tee shirt, shorts, and sandals, she was even better than I'd remembered.

Carly walked up to me, put her arms around me, and hugged me. That felt exquisite. "Thank you so much for coming," she said. "I know it is a sacrifice for you, but I knew I could count on you." She kissed me on the lips.

I was a bit stunned by the warm welcome. Sure, we had been good friends, but nothing more, to my chagrin. Not knowing what to say, I gestured at the unit she'd come out of and said, "your club must pay well."

"These are nice units," Carly replied. "I told you Martha Davis is the president of the club's board? Her company owns this unit. I get this place rent free so long as I work for the club."

"What do you do?" I asked.

"A lot of things," Carly said. "I design aquatic fitness programs and lead aquatic fitness classes. We have age-group swim races which I organize. I also keep the pool clean and operating. A couple of members have kids in high school who are divers. I work with them. I'm learning how to keep the books. Come on in."

Carly took me by the arm and led me inside. The unit had a couple of small rooms built around a small kitchen, and a set of steps leading to a second floor. "The bedroom and bathroom are upstairs," Carly said. It was small, but it beat hell out of the place I'd been living in Chicago.

"It's nice," I said. "Where will I stay?"

"Here," Carly said.

"I don't see a sofa," I said. "I suppose I can get an air mattress."

"There's a perfectly good queen size bed upstairs that will hold both of us," Carly replied. I just stared at her, not believing she had actually said that. Carly looked at me for a moment. "Peter," she said, "do you really think I'd ask you to get naked with me in public just because we're friends?"

I was confused. "What are you saying?" I asked.

"We couldn't hook up in college because I was with Keith, and you were with Karen. That didn't mean I didn't want to hook up with you, but that would have been a shitty thing to do to Keith and Karen. We're both free agents now. I want a guy in my life. You're smart. You've always been interested in me for me rather than for what I can do for you. When we skinny dipped, you stood up for the three of us girls. There was no one else there and all four of us were buck naked, and a bit drunk. You could have gotten laid that night. I'd have fucked you and so would Jana. But you didn't try to get laid. You were respectful, of us and of Karen. And you look great naked." Carly paused. She smiled, cocked a hip, and asked "interested?"

While Carly and I had been good friends in college, I'd always put her on a pedestal and considered her totally out of reach for me as a girlfriend. The way she asked "interested" changed things completely. I realized that she was very nervous, fearful that I would reject her. That boosted my confidence. Suddenly, Carly was no longer my friend the goddess, but a very desirable woman who was interested in me. "Interested in living with you?" I asked rhetorically. "Of course, I'm interested."

Carly's sense of relief was palpable. "That's good," she said. "I was afraid I was making an ass of myself."

"You'd be an exquisite ass," I replied.

Carly turned her back to me, looked over a shoulder, and said, "well, the ass I have is pretty nice."

"That, my dear friend, is the understatement of the decade," I said.

"Some people seem to like other bits of me as well," Carly said.