"Would you and John like to go to the reservoir for a swim?"
Now, there's several things to know about that question. The questioner, Deana (Deen-a, not Dee-ann-a), had been dating my fraternity brother John. She was seriously cute. The reservoir is where you went for illicit nude swimming. And it was after dark.
"Let me see if John is up for it."
I put down the phone and went looking for John. I found him in his room puttering around with rock samples for the Geology course he was taking over the summer. He was uncharacteristically abrupt with the invitation: "No, I don't feel like it." He frowned at the specimen he was holding under an illuminated magnifier, comparing it to descriptions of schist in his textbook.
"You sure? Everything OK with you and Deana?"
John stood up and strode towards the door. I backed out of the way, thinking he wanted to cut out the middleman in the invitation. The door shut in my face with the solid thunk of the lock ending the conversation.
I returned to the phone. "I'm sorry, Deana, John doesn't seem to want to go."
"Well, my friend Kat and I still want to go. It's so hot we can't sleep, and we can cool down for at least a little while. We want at least one guy to go with us, since it's so dark there."
"Well, OK."
"We'll come by and pick you up in about ten minutes."
I grabbed a towel and went to sit on the front steps. It was hot indeed. Ten pm and the mercury had only grudgingly left triple digit territory. It had seeped through the old cool stones of the fraternity house over the last four days, until there was no longer any refuge inside. The only way to sleep was in the dorm room on the third floor with all the balcony doors open in invitation to the grace of any breeze that might briefly stir.
The stridence of crickets was the only sound for a while, gradually overridden by a lonely Beetle getting louder as it approached. It turned up the driveway and chugged "I think I cans" all the way up the hill. It stopped in front of me, and Deana popped out of the passenger side.
"Hi, Ben. Can you ride in back? Kat needs me to give her directions."
I peered inside. "You call that a seat?" Deana gave me a shove and I folded myself down into the space. I felt like I had a few new folds.
"Are you OK back there?" I could only see Kat's profile by the dashboard light, but what I saw looked nice.
"I'm fine. I always sit like a bat with my knees tucked around my ears. I'm Ben."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kat." She couldn't bend her right arm around to shake hands, so she insinuated her left between the seats and we touched fingertips briefly.
"I didn't mean to pick on your car."
"I know it's small, and you're very tall. Over six feet?"
"Six two. And a half. Just call me beanpole."
"You live here? I've always thought this house was so beautiful every time I drove by."
"Yeah, I've been a member for two years."
"You don't look like a Frat boy to me."
"There's fifty houses on the Hill. Only a few of them are party houses. Some are geek houses, this one's pretty much middle of the road. We're just normal guys that you'd find anywhere on campus, but we also own the house, serve the meals, hire the cook, pay the taxes, all that stuff. It's a good experience."
"OK, I'm impressed."
"I told you you'd like him, Kat," put in Deana from the other seat.
What was that supposed to mean? Was she trying to set us up? Had she wanted someone to keep me company while she flirted with John? What was the plan now?
We had been driving as we talked, crossing the bridges across the deep gorges that bounded the campus. A short distance down a county road, we pulled off where the shoulder widened near a locked gate. Passing the old "No Trespassing" signs on the dark trail was just part of the thrill. Once in a while they would chase the kids away, but no one ever got in trouble for going here.
I had never been here after dark. The path was wide, and the waxing moon that flew silently above the treetops cast enough light on the trail to see, though it was dark and eerie under the trees on both sides. Crickets sang in the bushes, and an owl hooted somewhere off in the darkness. The girls crowded close to me on either side. I put an arm around their waists and they leaned in gratefully. I in turn sent grateful thoughts to the distant owl.
We came to the reservoir. There was a wide grassy bank leading down to the water, which glinted silver in the moonlight. There was no one else here, and the water was as still as a mirror in the muggy night air.
We dropped our towels on the grass and looked at each other uncertainly. Not everyone swam nude at the reservoir; it was just an option. I was wearing cutoffs and a T shirt, so I could go either way. The girls were wearing tank tops and shorts; I couldn't tell in the moonlight if they had suits underneath. We stood around fingering our clothes and giving each other "I'll do whatever you do" looks.
Deana broke the spell. She peeled her tank top over her head in one swift motion and dropped it on her towel. She swept her head back to shake the hair out of her eyes, setting her breasts bouncing free. She bent to slip her shorts off, gave me a smile, and dashed off for the water. I was left gaping at the images burned into my retinas of those perfect curves. "Y equals alpha times cosh of X over alpha," I muttered. A catenary curve, the natural curve of gravity on an unsupported line. Beautiful. But you can see why I didn't get many dates.
Kat was a little more reticent. She also peeled off her top and shorts, and walked forward to the water with a dancer's deliberate steps. I saw only her strong, slim back as she launched horizontally into the water.
I stood indecisive for a few more minutes. I felt gawky next to their grace, scruffy next to their composure. But I didn't want to embarrass them by remaining clothed while they were nude. I also didn't want to embarrass myself by having an inappropriate reaction. "Come on in, Ben!" their voices floated across the water. I pulled off my shirt, hesitated another moment, then stepped out of my shorts.
I waded out into the water, feeling the warmth of the sun lingering in the shallows, the cooler tendrils drifting in from deeper waters. Parts of me that were normally contained dangled in the night air. I waded in up to my thighs, then spooked when I stepped suddenly off a ledge into deep water. I dunked momentarily under water, then came to the surface choking on the breath I had gulped. The girls were further out, doing a strong crawl out then back again. I treaded water while they splashed back and forth, beautiful mermaids beckoning to the shipwrecked sailor.
I was enjoying watching the muscles play across Kat's shoulders as she stroked through the water when I realized that I couldn't see Deana anywhere. I searched the water anxiously, telling myself that she couldn't be in trouble and fearing that I would be too inept to rescue her if she was. Suddenly I felt a hand on my leg that pulled me under the water. I kicked back to the surface spluttering and choking to find Deana hanging onto me.
"I remember reading Homer," I choked. "Mermaids are deadly creatures. They drag you down to your death in their icy waters."
"You're silly. You just got water up your nose. Besides, this water is as warm as a bath."
She tugged me over to a depth where I could touch bottom but she could not. She wrapped her arms around me from my right side, and scissored her legs around my thigh. I felt soft breasts and stiff nipples pressed against my ribs, and an unfamiliar triangle of down against my thigh. This is John's girl, I reminded myself, and tried to maintain my unexcited state.
"I think I'll wait on the beach for you two. I'm not a very strong swimmer."
"Ok, I just want to do another few laps."
