All characters depicted are at least 18-years-old.
*****
I spent most of my high school summers at my aunt's. Aunt April lived up north with her daughter, my cousin Melanie. We were more or less the same age; I think our moms were pregnant with us at the same time. But while my mom still worked as the day manager at a Hooter's, Mel's was a prosecuting attorney. So, a week after school was done I packed clothes and toothbrush and waited excitedly for my aunt to arrive to drive us upstate.
"Hey!" Mel rushed out of to greet us when we rolled into the garage. I beamed when she threw her arms around me in a hug, "Missed you!"
I hugged her, maybe a little awkwardly. Mel's hug pressed her breasts into me and her hair smelled like floral shampoo. She was wearing a long tee shirt and flip flops, her long creamy legs stretching out from the shirt, knee rubbing against my crotch. Maybe a lot awkwardly. I reminded myself, forcefully, that she was my cousin.
"I'll take your bags in, did you want to go for a swim?" my aunt said, and Mel immediately chimed in to second.
That was when it hit me. "I - I forgot my trunks."
"I'll find you something!" Mel offered, grabbing my hand and pulling me away by the wrist.
Melanie's closet was bigger than my room. She led me in and flicked on a light. "It's way too hot, I'm sure I've got something you can wear."
I wasn't sure what to think, but it didn't take her long to open a dresser and begin tossing out swimwear - girl's swimwear.
"Hey, Mel, it's okay, really. I can get one tomorrow at the store,"
She was holding a little girl's one piece, green with cat faces, I really didn't want to try to fit into that but my cousin was nothing if not insistent. She looked back at me over her shoulder, flipping shoulder-length wavy black hair over. She batted her eyes, set something on top of the dresser and stood up to face me. She crossed her arms and pulled off her shirt over her head in a single smooth motion. "Come swim with me, it's been forever."
Melanie wore a blue bikini, tropical flowers stitched to the straps and the ties around her waist. Her breasts bounced when she discarded her shirt, the suit at least a size or two too small. She tossed a suit she picked out for me into my arms. As she walked past, she brushed a hand against my thigh and I swear she winked.
I looked down, she had given me a tan, ruffled skirt bikini bottom. The top too, but I left that behind when I changed. It's a kilt. It's just like a kilt, I told myself when I looked at Melanie's full-length mirror. It's a short, frilly, barely constraining kilt that I can definitely wear and not look like a girl.
Aunt April's pool was a wide, in-ground, saltwater pool with a diving board and an attached hot tub. Melanie stood on the diving board and bounced twice and I came out. She leapt off, hands over her head and slipped into the water without a splash. She shot under the water and came up at by the ladder at my feet.
"You look good!" she said. She ran her hands through her hair as she clung to the ladder beneath the water.
I smiled nervously and sat, dangling my legs in the water. June had already gotten uncomfortably hot, and it did feel good after the long drive out. I took a breath and let myself sink into the pool. The skirt felt surprisingly good and when I came up for air, I had almost forgotten that I was wearing it.
Melanie swam around me "I'm glad you're staying the summer."
"Thanks."
"I, um, I hoped I wasn't being too forward. I've just been thinking about this for a while. I had kind of a crappy last semester."
"Oh, Mel, you could have called," I said, meeting her at the deep end of the pool.
She touched off the bottom of the pool and circled around to pin me against the edge of the pool. "Yeah, but I wanted to see you, cousin!" Her arms closed around my neck and she met my eyes. Water sloshed and her legs grazed mine as she floated.
I didn't know what to think. Melanie and I had always been close and I guess there are weirder things than being attracted to her. She was right there, throwing herself at me, and - suddenly I was at the bottom of the pool.