Sandi snuck into her mother's room and carefully removed the Cosmopolitan from her bedside table. Her parents didn't think it was acceptable for their eighteen-year old daughter to be reading Cosmo, but Sandi couldn't figure out what articles her mom bought it for. Sandi's mom was more of a Home Journal type and the thought of her mom and dad trying out any of the "6 Best Cosmo-Sutra Moves" grossed her out beyond words.
She hid the stolen magazine under the beach towel and trudged outside. According to the slew of magazines for June pale was out and sun-goddess bronze was in-- in a big way. Sandi's parents didn't want their children to get skin cancer or a boyfriend so they also forbade sun bathing and tanning beds. Sandi begged her mom to let her try out one of the many fake tanners available but her mother proclaimed that "no daughter of hers is going to look like a slutty cheesy poof." And that was that. Sandi sulked over her mother's refusal but it didn't do any good. Sandi couldn't wait to escape to college.
She had begun sending out applications and her only two requirements were that it was out of state and offered a degree in teaching. Her parents knew that they were losing their little girl to the big world but no matter what type of guilt trip they tried to pull they couldn't convince Sandi to stay at home and attend community college. She was hell-bent on entering the stream of life, as her parent's called it. Although sun bathing was forbidden in the Fletcher household neither of her parents would be home until after 3 p.m. so it was safe until then. She splayed her towel out across the perfectly manicured lawn and lay down. She rolled the sleeves of her t-shirt up, making it sleeveless and she tucked the hem of her shirt up under her bra to expose her stomach. She wore the shortest shorts she owned and with her knees bent they naturally crept up and exposed the pale skin of her thighs.
Sandi lay in that position for thirty minutes before turning over and lying on her stomach. She read through half of Cosmo before scurrying inside to prepare for her parents return home. Sandi ran upstairs and undressed, inspecting her body in the mirror. Her brownish hair was cut in an outgrown bob and she mostly pulled it back into a low ponytail to disguise her need of a haircut. The natural golden highlights that streaked her hair were becoming more prominent from their sun exposure.
The tiny freckles that danced across her nose, like a little girl enrolled in her first ballet class, extended onto the apples of her cheek. She leaned in close to the mirror trying to see if there were any tan lines. Her tiny breasts hung in the air round and perky. Sandi shivered and gooseflesh covered her skin while her nipples tightened into points like tiny chocolate chips. Her stomach was flat and covered in light blonde peach fuzz that gave way to the modest triangle of dark curls between her legs. Sandi's legs were long and muscular. She had already decided that she would attribute her fitness to volleyball if anyone at college asked. It wasn't a complete lie; she did play volleyball a lot, just not for her school team. Instead her chosen after school activity was marching band. Even though she loved music and playing the saxophone brought her immense joy she didn't want to project that image in college. She was still wondering how to break it to her parents that she didn't plan on signing up for her college marching band. Sandi was disappointed that her hour in the sun hadn't seemed to make any difference but she knew that it would take more time than that to perfect her summer tan. She vowed to step-up her efforts for tomorrow.
The next day Sandi snuck into her older sister's old bedroom and rifled through her dresser drawers. It took her some time but she managed to find what she was looking for. Tucked away in a mesh nylon bag were four pairs of pantyhose and three bathing suits. Sandi laid them out on the bed and looked them over. The first was a purple one piece that looked stretched and worn; it was no better than Sandi's own one piece from swimming class. The second was a two-piece bikini with a soft white background and pastel hearts in pink, purple, and blue. Sandi liked it but when she thought about wearing something so skimpy out in public a lump formed in her throat.
The third was Sandi's first choice. It was a navy blue two-piece with modestly cut bottoms and a halter style top. The floorboards at the end of the hallway creaked and Sandi quickly shoved the two bikinis into her shorts and returned the ugly one piece and the mesh bag to their former location. Sandi heard the bathroom door open and close and she knew that it was safe to dash across the hall to her own bedroom. She pulled the two bathing suits out of her shorts and hid them between the mattress and box springs. In an hour, or so, both of her parents would be gone for work and it would be safe for Sandi to don her borrowed bikini and catch some rays.
While Sandi could hear the shuffle of gravel beneath her father's tires she tied the navy blue halter-top around her neck. She slid on the bottoms and looked in the mirror. The bottoms were a little loose and hung low on her hips, the extra material pooling around her butt. Sandi took off the bikini and tried on the other one. The pants fit almost perfectly but the triangles were too large for her small breasts and puffed out at the sides. She decided to compromise and wear the navy blue top and the white and pastel bottoms. She might have been mismatched but it was better than wearing a bathing suit that didn't fit.
Last night Sandi made a thorough search of the house and couldn't find a single tanning product. Everything that she found was designed to block out the sun-quite the opposite of what she wanted. But, her trusty guide to life, Cosmopolitan, suggested using olive oil as a cheap alternative to sun tan oil. Sandi pulled the dining room chair over to the kitchen cupboard and carefully removed the tall bottle of extra-virgin olive oil and poured about half a cup into an empty spray bottle.
It was eleven o'clock and Sandi was determined to lie out until two o'clock. She carried out her towel, make-shift sun tan oil, the fourth installment in the series of books she was reading about three mischievous young wizards, and her sunglasses. She would have brought out some pop but they were warm so she stuck them in the refrigerator to chill first. Sandi spread her towel out and oiled up. She lay down and waited. After what felt like an hour she looked at her watch to discover that it had only been half an hour but it was still time to turn over. Time went by a lot faster while she was occupied reading and in no time her thirty minutes was up. After flipping over two more times Sandi was bored out of her mind.
