Madeline's bedroom was dark and silent. Her father had said good night to her and Elizabeth not long ago, but they weren't planning on sleeping anytime soon.
Madeline rolled over to face Elizabeth who had her side of the blankets pulled up to her eyeballs. They immediately locked eyes.
"Ready Liz??" Madeline inquired excitedly in a half whisper.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Maddy." Liz responded, attempting to sound unenthusiastic. It was all in good fun though.
"Alright! Let's get going." Maddy urged. The girls climbed out of bed and got dressed. Liz put on a light turquoise nightgown, and Maddy threw on a black graphic tee with a crying eye across the chest and some high rise cut-off jean shorts. Then, they got busy clumping pillows together into lumps underneath the sheets.
"Good enough." Maddy said to herself as she gave their handiwork a thumbs up. After they slipped on some cheap plastic dollar store flip-flops, Maddy grabbed a black canvas tote bag printed with the letters "NIN" in solid white, and slowly opened the bedroom window and motioned for Liz to climb through first. Maddy followed behind her, then slowly lowered the frame from the other side until it made silent contact with the windowsill. They crept gingerly through the back yard, their knees bent just enough to keep low to the ground until they were out of reach of the soft glow coming from the windows of Maddy's house. Maddy and Liz hopped over a stone fence ahead and descended down the hillside just behind it into the woods. A path ahead parted the trees and foliage, curving to the left and right as they progressed. They walked for what felt like almost a mile to Lizzie, Maddy briskly leading the way. Liz had to break into a half-jog several times to close the distance between them.
"So when are you going to finally tell me what your big surprise is out here?" Liz asked.
"I'm not." said Maddy, her voice mischievous and playful. "I'm just going to let you find out when it happens."
Elizabeth was growing impatient. Madeline had planned to bring her out to... whatever the hell this was going to be for weeks, yet she wouldn't reveal even the slightest hint in regards to what it entailed, two details bearing exception: One, it was deep in the forest behind her house, and Two, they were going to have the time of their lives.
"I swear to god Madeline, if this is just another one of your out of season April Fools pranks..." warned Lizzie, not entirely intending a threat.
Maddy halted and turned to face her friend. "Liz. Like I said, if you stick with me through this and try it, I promise you you're gonna love it. We are gonna have soooo much fun tonight."
Maddy ran ahead and pumped her fists into the air. "This is going to be the best girl's night out EVER!"
A little way further, Madeline and Elizabeth reached a clearing. A pond sparkled in the distance, illuminated by moonlight that pierced through the foliage above. The pond was enclosed by large smooth stones and nurtured by a gentle waterfall pouring into it from above. A tangle of leafy vines climbed up a large tree next to it, a few leaves looking like they had been munched on. Judging by the size of the bite marks, the creature had to be larger than they were -- no, larger than both of them put together.
"Wow!" gasped Lizzie "It's beautiful, Mads! I can see why you wanted to bring me out here so badly!"
"This isn't the surprise, you loon." Maddy bantered. She skipped up to the precipice, right where the stone footing ended and the water began.
"Alright," said Maddy, dropping the tote bag on the rock below. She turned around to face Lizzy. Criss-crossing her arms, she pulled her shirt up and over her head, and dropped it into the bag. "This is where we strip."
Lizzie's eyebrow raised in bewilderment. "Uhh... This is where we what, Maddy?"
Maddy was already unzipping her jean shorts as she replied. Liz saw that she was wearing a black sports bra and her favorite red tangas underneath. "Strip." Maddy repeated casually, "Y'know... Get naked? Wear your birthday suit? Go au naturel? Strip." The jean shorts fell down at Maddy's feet, before finding their way into the tote bag.
"Yeah! I know what that means!" Lizzie said, feigning annoyance, "I'm asking 'Why?' Are we going skinny dipping?"
"Oh... we're gonna do something way more exciting than skinny dipping, Liz." Maddy's hands reached behind her back, fingers unfastening the clasp of her bra. She worked her arms free from the straps, which now hung loosely at her sides before losing the bra entirely and placing it into the bag with the rest of her clothes.
Liz, still absorbing what was happening, continued guessing. "We gonna give Matthew a show down here or something?"
"Hell no!" Maddy exclaimed as she bent forward, "We broke up. Good riddance too. His bedroom game was--" Maddy let out a faux yawn between words, "--sooooo underwhelming." She pulled her panties down, then kicked them up with her right foot to grab them.
"When did this happen?!" Liz asked in surprise.
"Monday." Madeline smiled. "And tonight, I'm gonna celebrate!" With bent knees, she swayed her hips and raked her fingers up through her curly red hair with a bit of a dance. The moonlight really worked wonders on Maddy's figure, Liz had to admit. The girl had curves. Matthew was missing out, big time.
Liz frowned in puzzlement. "I thought you liked him... He seemed nice."
"Ha!" Maddy cawed. "If by nice you mean 'boring as hell', then yes, he was very nice. Now are you gonna take your clothes off with me, or are you just gonna leave me hanging here?"
Lizzie rubbed her left arm, hesitating. She didn't feel embarrassed about exposing her body to her closest friend. They had seen each other in the nude many times before, even commenting freely on each others bodies without the slightest hint of embarrassment ensuing. But here, they were deep in a strange forest late at night. The unfamiliarity combined with the thought of running into would-be voyeurs down here kept Liz from feeling comfortable enough to shed her clothing.
"What if somebody sees us Maddy?" Liz asked warily.
"I have been out here like, a hundred times, Liz. I've never run into anybody out here." She turned to an imaginary audience, apparently seated in front of the waterfall. "Naked girl alert!" Maddy mocked. She jiggled her breasts with the palms of her hands cupping them underneath, "Come jerk off to my huge ghost milkies, boys!!" She shouted.
'Ghost Milkies' was a humorous nickname Maddy had gleefully adopted from Liz. It had originated from a night they spent together last year on Halloween over at Lizzie's place. In a state of undress, Liz had commented on how light and pale Maddy's areolas were, calling them 'ghost titties'. Maddy snorted with laughter at the statement -- spraying chocolate milk everywhere -- and seemed to derive infinite amusement from the description going forward, even adopting it as a handle in some form for semi-private online accounts used for forums and gaming. At some point, Maddy's wordage underwent a change from "Ghost Titties" to "Ghost Milkies", much to Lizzie's confoundment. Her undying enthusiasm for this new -- less than modest -- moniker, was so great that Liz couldn't help but to begin rolling her eyes in mild annoyance at the frequency of which Maddy would reference it. It was funny once, twice, perhaps even thrice, but little more beyond that as far as she was concerned. Her large chested friend, however, felt differently.
"See? The coast is clear." Maddy confirmed.
"I dunno..." said Liz, unconvinced. "I'd be more comfortable if I knew what I was getting naked for, but that seems to be the one thing you won't share."
"Not for long though Lizzie!!" Maddy assured. "C'mon! Slide those panties off and show me that body of yours! That is... if you're even wearing any."
