Sunburnt

This was my submission for the 2019 Nude Day Erotic Story Contest. Many thanks to ThisNameIsntTakenYet for helpful suggestions.

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"I'm not a nudist."

"Neither am I," Anna-Lee retorted. "But it's National Nude Day."

I rolled my eyes. "So what?"

"So this is a good day to try something new," Anna-Lee said. "When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

"Whenever." I shrugged.

"Ivana, seriously. You're so boring."

"I've got work to do."

"Lost in translation, huh?"

"Translating technical manuals pays the bills," I said.

"But it's not as exciting as translating '50 shades'," Anna-Lee rebutted. "The senior citizens here have a life. You don't."

Ouch, that hurt. Anna-Lee had moved in a month ago. We immediately connected; we were the only young single females in the apartment building. She came from some ultraconservative Old South backwater and was only now discovering things like boys and dating --stuff I'd already become sufficiently familiar with in College.

"Yeah, well..."

"Is this about some deadline, Ivana? Or is it about something else?"

I fell silent, agonizing over the answer.

Anna-Lee pushed through: "Are you afraid that people will be staring at you? Or are you afraid that people won't stare at you?"

"Fuck off," I said. "I'm not going to take that bait."

"All work and no play makes Ivy a dull gal," Anna-Lee teased. "I'm going to enjoy myself. See ya."

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With Anna-Lee gone, I could return to my task of translating important technical stuff. I made good progress, finishing a rough draft after two hours of work. I decided to leave it at that; the deadline was somewhere next week and I only needed one round of polishing before turning this in. I decided to reward myself with a free afternoon on my terrace.

The terrace was the big boon of this apartment; it was on the fourth and highest floor of the complex, surrounded by three walls and a high railing, offering lots of privacy. I regularly worshipped the Californian sun here.

So I shut down my computer, prepared a cup of herbal tea, and changed into fitness gear. I sat down on the lounger and felt the sun warming my arms, legs and belly.

Anna-Lee was obviously right; I was too damn shy to go to a nudist beach. Which was stupid; I could not compete with photoshopped Instagram-influencers, but I had nothing to be ashamed of, and I never had problems attracting boys. I didn't even dare to wear a bikini on my own terrace, although no one could see me here. The fitness gear -booty shorts with tank top- offered a kind of plausible deniability if someone would somehow see me, or if I had to open the door for some delivery guy.

I hadn't been like this in College. I'd been modest, and public nudity wasn't acceptable, but my roommate, dates, and team mates of the athletics team had seen me in various states of undress and I had seen them unclothed too. But that had always been limited to locker room or bedroom.

"Screw it," I muttered to myself. "It's time for something new. Even it's just nude sunbathing. "

I sat up and took off the top. I briefly hesitated, double checked that no one could see me, and then took off the shorts too. It felt awkward, but I looked around and no-one, really no-one could see me here.

The sun felt odd on my nipples, on parts that weren't usually exposed. I reckoned this was just my own insecurity about my body; the guys never complained. I cursed my lack of self-esteem; I should be stronger than that.

I put in my earbuds and closed my eyes; music would help me relax.

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Sunset woke me up. A chilly breeze had arrived. I swore; I'd been sleeping all afternoon.

"You apparently needed this, Ivana," I told myself as an excuse. "You work too hard."

I got up and walked to the bathroom. It was kind of weird that I did not need to undress myself first before showering.

My skin didn't know what to feel; the sweat was sticky, the evening chill had given me goosebumps, but my breasts and hips --and my butt - were reddish and sore. I hadn't used any sunscreen -- I normally didn't need to- but today I suffered from sunburn. Crap, even my labia were tender.

I'd apparently turned a few times while sleeping; sensitive bands told me which parts of my back were normally covered by the straps from my top.

I showered with lukewarm water, washing away the sweat and soothing my itching skin, and used copious amounts of caressing afterwards.

I was just about to dry my hair, when someone knocked on my door.

"It's me, Anna-Lee," I heard her yell.

I hastily put on a bathrobe to greet her. Anna-Lee looked happy.

"Nudism is liberating. Fun even," she exclaimed.

To prove this, she pulled her shirt over her head, showing off her pert --and slightly reddish- breasts.

I was baffled; I'd seen breasts before but my roommates had never acted this bold.

"I only forgot to use sunscreen. My tits hurt," she complained.

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about," I mumbled perplexedly.

Anna-Lee did a double-take.

"You naught girl," she said as she realized the implication. "You've gone nudist too."

I nodded slowly.

"Show me," Anna-Lee said; her hand already on my bathrobe. I was too surprised to resist; the garment fell on the floor.

"Oops, that looks even worse," she confirmed. Her gaze went down. "You shave your pussy too?"

"Like who else?" I asked, regaining my composure.

"Like almost everyone on the nudist beach."

"You don't?"

"I was about the only one there with a bush," Anna-Lee said. She blushed.

I giggled; how ironic to blush for this reason.

"If you want boys to go down on you ...," I smirked. "My dates in college flatly refused to lick a hairy pussy. So I started shaving and now it's a habit. Your dates didn't complain?"

"At the University of East Alabama? It was True-Love-Waits, there. Holding hands during dates was about the most exciting it would get. No fun at all. Now I'm finally catching up."

She sighed.

"I'm gonna shower too. See ya."

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After Anna-Lee left, I did not bother to get dressed again. I told myself I stayed nude to avoid the grating sensation of fabric on my hips, but I secretly enjoyed a newfound feeling of... something.

I had difficulties falling asleep. The itching of the sunburns had more or less disappeared but I still felt restless. I went out to the terrace and stood at the railing, in complete darkness. I was still nude, but I was pretty sure that anyone looking up would just see a shadow. The cool wind was now soothing my skin and hardening my nipples. Funny, these divergent effects.

I understood Anna-Lee much better now and I felt sorry for her, for having to catch up. On the other hand, why should I feel sorry for her? She was at least currently catching up, doing new things every day. She actually might feel sorry for me.

I inhaled the cool air. Anna-Lee had been right; I'd been shy while I didn't need to be. She was right on another point too. I had turned boring, a life of work-sleep-repeat. Even dating had become a routine; drink-fuck-sleep, rarely repeat. Granted, the guys were different, and at the same time, they were interchangeable Californian surfer hunk wanna-bees. They weren't new.

Today that routine had suddenly been interrupted, and despite the sunburn it felt good. Thanks to Anna-Lee, and National Nude Day, I felt alive. I hadn't felt this alive in months, and all it had taken was getting rid of two pieces of fabric.

This tasted like more. I needed to do things I hadn't done before. And I knew who could help me with that. Now.

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I knocked on Anna-Lee's door. She seemed to have problems falling asleep too, because she opened within seconds.

"Hi Anna-Lee," I said. "When was the last time you did something for the first time?"

"Yesterday," Anna-Lee smiled. "It's after midnight and today's a new day."

"I want to try something new today."

"You make me curious," Anna-Lee said eagerly.

"I want to eat pussy," I said. "Your pussy."

"I'm not a lesbian..." Anna-Lee's voice trailed. Suddenly she caught on. "Oh. Of course. But only if you're careful; it's a bit sensitive there. "

She let me in.