-story ideas and collaboration with "XC"
-edited by jadie1988
"Lauren, where does this one go?" a young man carrying a box asked, turning his head slightly to look behind with brown eyes. He had a mop of chestnut-colored hair and wore a black patterned tee and blue jeans.
"It goes in the bedroom," replied a pale girl with freckles. A cardboard box was clutched against her small chest, covered in a white tank. She tossed her dirty blond hair with a flip of her head. "Jay, put it next to the bathroom door," she said.
After walking through the door and setting down the box Jay went to the window and pulled back the curtain, peering in the direction of all the people sitting around the swimming pool.
Lauren opened the box that Jay had just set down and looked through the clothes inside.
"How bout we go to the pool to relax, it's so hot," Jay suggested, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Great minds think alike," she replied, holding up a blue one-piece swimsuit from the box she had been carrying.
While Jay went down to the pool to save a sitting spot for them, Lauren changed. After removing her clothes she put on the swimsuit, adjusting the material over her small butt. She tied her hair back with a scrunchy from her wrist and put on some shiny lip gloss she found at the bottom of her purse. She wrapped a towel around her waist before she went to the door. As she left the apartment with the keys she put on her large dark glasses.
When Lauren got to the pool she saw Jay sitting in one of the only available spaces on the edge near the deep end. He only wore a pair of shorts and looked as if he worked out a bit as evident by his biceps, but he was a bit soft around the middle as Lauren sometimes joked with him.
The pool wasn't very big and filled with mostly kids, but sitting to the left of Jay were four black guys.
Jay moved over towards them as Lauren sat down.
"It's so crowded," She observed.
"This the girl you were talking about?" said one of the black guys to Jay.
"Yeah. Hey Lauren, this is Derek and his friends, uh Aries, Tyrone and, sorry I..."
"Jamal."
"Nice to meet you all," Lauren smiled.
Derek gave a toothy white grin back. He wore brown-tinted aviator sunglasses and a black and white checkered hat, with a pair of very baggy jeans pulled up to his knees. His legs dangled in the pool.
Derek's friends were all of a similar built to him with very dark skin. Derek and Tyrone had their shirts off and she noticed their muscular bodies, most notably Tyrone's washboard abs.
"Derek's in my Calculus class," Jay explained.
"Oh cool, do you guys live here too?" Lauren asked.
"Tyrone and I do," Derek replied.
"Is it always this busy?"
"Oh yeah I guess," Derek replied.
"But it's not that many people," Aries said. "Jay was right you're not used to big ol LA huh?" he said, pulling up his wife beater up and down, drawing air to cool himself. She noted his muscular torso beneath her sunglass, and then dipped in her foot to the water.
"I guess I am. Hmm, at least the water is cool. I'm gonna get in."
She removed the towel from her waist and tossed it to Jay. After dunking her legs in the side of the pool, she lowered herself in.
"Is it cold?" Jay asked when she popped back up a second later.
"No, why don't you come in."
"Nah."
"I'll get in," Aries said, tossing off his shirt and turning his hat backwards before he jumped straight down next to Lauren.
His splash covered most of his friends, Jay and some of the parents sitting near the edge.
He popped up with a smile and Lauren giggled.
"Fuck man," Jamal said, as he pulled off his wet shirt.
"Like you never got wet," Aries replied.
"You from San Jose yeah?" Aries asked Lauren.
"Yeah, although I'm from a town near it really. I'm not used to so many people and stuff. My parents are kinda protective, but they were excited that I got into a good school."
"Protective huh?" Derek asked.
"Yeah they didn't really like her seeing me all the time. Lauren's kinda, well shy," Jay smiled.
"No I'm not," she laughed. "I'm just not very... well... I only had one boyfriend before Jason, and my parents always made such a fuss. I never got to experience the real high school stuff."
"Least you got college now," Jamal said.
"So you go to UCLA too?" Derek asked Lauren.
"Yeah I'm a psychology major. How bout you?"
"Econ," he replied.
"Eww I hate math," Lauren said as she scrunched up her nose. Derek chuckled.
"It's not that bad."
"I suck at it, and Jay is even worse than I am," she admitted.
"I'm not that bad," Jay corrected.
"Whatever, you're a guy, you're supposed to be better at that stuff so I can cheat off you," she smiled.
"Just let me know if you need help," Derek said.
"Ok, I will," Lauren smiled. Jay looked at Derek with a tinge of jealousy.
"So, your man here was telling us you just moved in," Tyrone said. "Which apartment are you?"
"25F," she said.
"That's pretty close to us," Derek said.
"We're just down the hall, 20A," Tyrone nodded, as he leaned back on his hands. He wore a long-sleeved shirt, but it was wide open, showing his glistening black skin and muscles in the bright light. He wore a red do-rag and his eyes were covered in dark sunglasses.
"It's getting hot," Derek said as he put his legs into the pool.
"The pool's so nice, you should come in babe," Lauren told Jay.
"Nah, I'm ok," Jay said with a wan smile, looking back towards Aries as he swam near his girlfriend.
Derek, Tyrone, Aries, and Jamal talked with Lauren and Jay for hours (although they paid more attention to her) as they swam and sat by the pool. It had been dark for nearly an hour before Jay said they better go inside. After taking a shower they finished unpacking some of Lauren's things and tired, fell asleep on her bed.
The black guys they met at the pool became friends of Lauren and Jay. She would frequently see them at school and the apartment complex. Jay would sometimes join them for lunch, but Lauren usually always ate with one of them because their schedules at school matched up.
One day Lauren felt tired after one of her classes so she put on her suit and went to the pool a few hours after the sun set. The swimming pool was usually more open at night, with the families using it more during the day. There was only a couple and one family there when Lauren set her towel on one of the chairs and took off her shirt and shorts, revealing her trim figure. After doing a few quick laps in the pool she heard her name. She saw Derek approaching, when she popped up her head.
"Hi," she smiled.
"Hey girl how's it going?"
"I'm tired, but I felt like a swim."
Derek sat down by the side of the pool.
"So are you doing any better with math?"
"Not really, I think you're gonna have to tutor me."
"No problem girl, anytime," Derek grinned.
"Hey could you help me up?" she asked with an outreached hand.
Derek grabbed her hand and pulled her up almost too quickly, as she ended up right next to him, nearly hugging his torso.
"Oh sorry," she said moving back.
"My pleasure," he chuckled. Lauren went to the chair and grabbed the towel. "Damn girl that ass is tight." Lauren stood up quickly and blushed profusely.
"Umm... uh.. I gotta go," she said, and after wrapping the towel around her.