We played a little more, but by the time we got out and made it to Mindy's house, Clara was there, in her majestic nudity. Perhaps it's me, but of all the adults, I saw, she seems the one who wears her nudity the most casually. Must be something in my head.

"Well, hello girls, and you must be Edith. I am so happy to finally meet you. I heard so much about you"

"Thank you. And thank you for your hospitality"

"Nonsense. Any friends of my daughter are welcome in my home."

"Thank you", but Edith lets something in the air.

Clara nods. "Clara. And Mindy's father, who's somewhere around here, is Peter. Would you girls like something to drink?"

"Perhaps some lemon water?" offers Mindy.

"Sure, in the tall glasses with a scoop of ice", says Clara, smiling.

Mindy goes to her room and we both stand there, watching Clara take out the lemons from the fridge.

Our host returns with a pair of shorts, which Edith puts on top of her bikini bottom.

We then put the three towels on the little benches in front of the kitchen counter, and sit on it, watching Clara squeeze lemons into four tall glasses, topping it with water from a dispenser in their fridge, and adding generous crushes ices from the same dispenser.

Edith got the first glass, I got the second, and Clara kept the last one.

"Sandcastles?", offers Mindy

"Nah. The AC is just perfect here. Usually, it's too cold or too warm"

"Well, we don't wear clothes, so we keep it a little lower"

"And warmer in the winter", says Clara, smiling

"Wait, you are nude in the winter too?", says Edith, shocked

"We sometimes go roll in the snow, even if in this state, it's not snowing every day, you know?", says Mindy.

"Oh, I know. I hate snow, it's so cold!", she says, shaking to imitate being cold.

"So what do we do?", says Mindy

"Perhaps I can give you your gift, and it will be an indication as to what we could do?", I say

"Again sorry, I didn't get you one", says Edith, but Mindy grabs her by the shoulders.

"Edith, the gift of your friendship is more than enough for me. You, coming here and being topless, is an even bigger gift"

"Let me guess, would you be thrilled if I also removed the bottom?", she says, a little sad

"Well, yeah, but I don't want to force you"

"Good, I don't think I could. Sorry"

I grabbed the box, and gave it to Mindy.

She brings it to the kitchen table, and we all stand around it, even Clara.

"I am sorry Peter is missing this, but he has an emergency at work", says Mindy's mother.

"No worries, mom", says Mindy, tearing the paper apart.

I laugh. The box is a disposable cup box. It's an item my parents import on the regular.

"Huh? Disposable cups?"

"It's a reused box", I say, showing the tape.

"Oh", she says, tearing it apart.

She opens the lit, and spots my Wii

"Wait, you got me a Wii?"

"We are giving you ours"

"What?", she says, confused

"My parents bought a Wii U and it's backwards compatible with the Wii."

Mindy looks stunned, so she moves aside and hugs me. I don't feel weird at all. This is my best friend, hugging me because she is happy for her gift. That we are nude isn't an issue, not in my mind.

"But I don't have any games, at least, not yet", she says

Her mother leaves for a minute, and comes back with a gift.

"Kylie told me yesterday, and we got you something", says Clara, handing her the gift.

She opens it and finds two games in it. Animal Crossing and Mario Kart Wii.

I notice they are already opened, and have a price sticker removed. My guess is that they were bought for cheap at a pawn shop. Hey, I don't judge, I bought a few there with my parents. The area was in recession, so countless people sold their old things at those scam places for pennies on the dollar of value.

Mindy didn't seem to mind either.

"We also got an extra remote, I'll go fetch it, since they are only including one", says Clara, leaving for her bedroom.

I dig in my bag, while Edith and Mindy install it in the living room.

I found the other two remotes, and a few of the games. I am surprised that Mario Kart Wii isn't there, until I realize that our parents probably coordinated with each other.

I showed her I have two more remotes.

"I suggest we play some Mario Kart", says Edith, when Clara comes back with the remote she bought.

"I'll just sync the new remote first", I explain, now that the Wii Menu is showing, while Edith installs the sensor bar on top of the television.

Clara stays and looks at what I am doing, with interest.

Eventually, it is synced with the Wii, by pressing the sync button on the Wii and on the remote. Now, I know it's a Bluetooth pairing process, but I didn't even know what Bluetooth really was. I thought it was a type of headset, not a communication protocol!

"My other remotes will still be synced", and I test, so, that they are number 3 and 4. I pass the new remote to Edith, and put the #4 on the couch, behind me.

Mindy inserts the Mario Kart game delicately, and then starts it.

"Hurray!, she says. Dropping her towel, she sits on it, directly on the floor, with her back to the couch. I sit on the couch, on my towel, on her left, and Edith on a towel on her right, even if she doesn't need one, since she is wearing shorts. Perhaps she doesn't know why and just follows along?

We need to confirm the multiplayer so Mindy, Edith and I do, but the 4th remote is where I left it.

"Hold on, I'll turn it off"

But when I look, Clara has it in her hands.

"Would you mind if I tried?", she says, nervous

"Sure, mom. Sit down"

She grabs a towel and sits next to me, imitating my grip.

We pick our vehicles and Clara picks the one she finds the coolest, Peach with the wild wing, which ironically, it's a bad choice... for a drifter! It has one of the best mini-turbo and drift combinations, which means that if you drift a lot, you increase your chances of winning, but without it, it doesn't have much acceleration.

Still, we start, with another cup this time, the Flower Cup.

Mario Circuit went well for Edith and I, with me in 1st place, and Edith in second. Mindy finished fifth, while Clara was 10th.

"Sorry Mom"

"Hey, my first lap was very slow, getting the hang of this, but I climbed up a lot on my second and third. At least, when I figured out the items"

"I think I overtook you in my second turn", I said

"I think you did, but I caught up by becoming a bullet or something", says Clara

"I was about to overtake her when she played the bullet bill item", says Edith

We start the next one, Coconut mall. Edith and I again fare well, but I explain to our hosts the escators and how they are reversed on each round.

Mindy finished in fourth, and Clara in 8th. Not bad!

DK summit is one of my courses I didn't get then. In fact, Edith showed me the tricks, but she finished 1st and me, 2nd, with Mindy in 3rd... and Clara in 4th?

"This is fun!", she said.

We switched to Wario's gold mine, where both Edith and Mindy had problems with the narrow road, so much that Edith finished in 4th, and Mindy in 6th. The surprise, however, was Clara... in 2nd place! Granted, she kept her bullet bill until she was in 5th, overtaking Mindy, and almost went to 1st place with it. And this was near the end, so she managed to keep her lead."

"Wow mom, good job"

"Hey, when I was a teen, I hung out at arcades.", she says.

But then, "Wait, that's it? I was only getting started"

We all agreed to do the star cup, where Clara finished in 3rd, in front of Mindy. She does have a higher speed and that race has long segments. 1st and 2nd were Edith and I, in the usual order.

For Koopa Cape, I took so much of a lead in lap 1 thanks to the shortcuts taken via mini turbos, but Edith managed to learn them and beat me, with Mindy in 3rd and Clara in 6th.

Maple Treeway was a massacre. I finished 2nd, behind the computer, Edith in 5th, Clara in 8th and Mindy simply gave up, and finished in 12th.

"I hate that course. That stupid insect blocking the way? The narrow trunks? It's worse than the mushrooms", she says.

"Did you still have fun?", I ask

"I had a blast!", she says, smiling.

Grumble volcano was last, and we all did well, finishing in the top 4 positions, with Clara in fourth.

"I'll let you girls play and begin preparing supper. If Peter doesn't come fast enough, I'll grill it on the barbecue myself", she says, putting the remote aside.

I disconnect it to be sure, and we do the special cup, with Mindy struggles all along, finishing 5th in Dry Dry Ruins, 7th in Moonview highway, 11th in Bower's castle (only because one of the computers has the baby booster, easily the worst car in the game), and just put her controller aside for the rainbow road in the middle of her 2nd lap, watching us play.

"Don't you want to play?"

"This isn't playing, this is failing to perform. I don't mind. It's my first time. I am learning from you, and tonight, when you leave, I will practice until I can at least, not fall on every turn", she says

"And try many vehicles. They have different handling, acceleration, off-roading, speed etc."

"Oh, I will. Definitely.", she says

"I recommend the time trial mode", says Edith. "You are alone on the track with three mushrooms at the start and no other items. That way, you can practice a lot"

"Great idea Edith", I say

"Do you have the internet, Mindy?"

"On my computer"

"If you get it on the Wii, we could visit each other's Animal Crossing towns. I could give you fruits you don't have, which are worth 500 bells instead of 100. But you don't sell them. You chop down trees that don't make any fruits, and plant a new fruit exactly where it is. But not near the beach, that's for the coconuts", says Edit

"Seems complicated"

"Don't worry, I will help you, I spend a lot of time alone with it. It would be great to play with a friend"

"Nice.", says Mindy.

"I'll ask for it too. So we can visit each other", I add.

"I would love that.", says Edith.

"Want to hang out in my room until we are ready for supper?", Mindy says. We all agree, and I carry my towel with me, but Mindy doesn't.

"You don't need yours", says Mindy, to Edith.

"Why?"

"You are wearing shorts..."

"Oh, but you don't need either?", says Edith, confused.

"It's my own bed. Towels to sit are for hygienic reasons when we share seats. In theory, my family wouldn't need one for the kitchen chairs, but we do so out of habit, you know?", says Mindy

"It's like there are so many rules I had no idea existed", says Edith, excited.

We sit on her bed, only I did so on a towel, but I don't comment that when I slept over, I didn't have one.

"Well, there are the rules to put sunscreen, to sit on a towel. No sexual stuff in public", says Mindy

"I presume, I mean, there are kids, right?", says Edith

"Yeah, notably us"

"Hey, we are teenagers", says Edith

"You might be but we are 12, Julie and I", says Mindy

"Not anymore, it's your birthday", says Edith

"Right. I am thirteen. Wow. I didn't think of that", she says.

"I think that being a teenager is more about maturity. In some ways, all three of us are, and in others, none of us. And in other ways, only you two", I said, humble.

"Yeah. It's tricky", says Edith.

"But other than that, I mean, there is mandatory nudity in the pool. No piercing on genitals"

"Wait, people do that?", says Edith, and I notice then that she is the only one with earrings.

"Yeah. I don't get it. But then again, even my mom doesn't have earring holes"

I think about it, and yeah, it's something I hadn't noticed, but it's true. She doesn't have pierced ear lobes, unlike my mother.

"I saw that.", says Edith.

"She used to, as a teen, but when she became a full naturist, she stopped wearing earrings and they closed"

"But you can wear earrings here, right?"

"Oh yeah, but if you wear weird jewelry, people look at you weird"

"Like what?", says Edith.

"I don't know. Like a pendant that drops between your breasts, or for some reason, a waist chain. But I've seen women with anklets and no one cared."

"So it's more like social norms than a rule"

"I guess. However, genital or nipple piercings are fully banned", she says

Edith instinctively covers her nipples. "Yuck", she says, revolted.

"Touching your genitals is also pretty much banned.", Mindy adds, after Edith lets go of her breasts

I add, "In short, you can't do anything you wouldn't do with your clothes on, and a few things that your clothes allow you to do"

"I get that. It makes sense. That's what I hate. Everything here makes sense. But I can't just give in"

"I get that", I tell her.

"You do?"

"Yeah, it's like, when I realized I wanted to be a naturist again, I wanted to go all in, you know? I was jealous of Mindy for having grown up as a naturist, for living in a naturist resort, I wanted so much to reclaim what was stolen from me, and yet, when she presented you to me, I didn't want to reveal I was one too. It took my mother, pulling me aside and telling me to be honest and to open up"

Edith laughs, but Mindy appears sad, for me. She puts her hand on my shoulder.

"What so funny?", I say

"I imagine you, keeping your bottom even if you want to remove it, just because you didn't want to tell me. If you knew me at all, you would know how little I care that you are or not a naturist. I have enough problems on my own without worrying how others live their lives"

"But you like gossip", I tell her

"Sure, it changes my mind from my problems at home. Like seeing your loving family, and Mindy's mother. I mean. This is paradise compared to my house, you know?"

"I do", and Mindy nods in agreement.

"Wait, will your parents be nude when we get to your house?"

"Well, no, we'll be waiting for your mother to pick you up", I tell her.

"Ok, neither of you can come to my house. It's like that. I don't make the rules, but next time I get to your house, I want you three nude and me topless. Is that a deal?"

"Can I come too?", says Mindy

"If Julie wants"

"So you want to spend time with naturists, but won't remove your bottom?", I ask

"Maybe one day, but don't count on it. My mother is quite a number."

I was about to spoil how that ends, but I'll keep it for later. Oh, and by the way? I am skipping deliberately a lot of explanations for now on how Edith's mom is horrible. This is my story, not hers.

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