I did not have any weird dreams, and I didn't call anyone about my date. I was still processing it.
My mom prepared her roast for the naturist supper, and both Edith and I helped her. The whole family was nude, which was a huge change of pace.
I was beginning to enjoy naturism again, and sharing it with my sister made it even better.
Preparing the roast was fantastic. I was learning to cook more and more elaborate meals that I didn't really want to eat but which I loved preparing.
To my surprise, when I went to put on my sundress to leave (which was suddenly appropriate), Edith stayed nude.
"Are you getting ready?" I asked.
"Oh, I am not going. I thought you knew."
"Why?"
"I am comfortable nude with us, but not with others. Not even with Charlie."
"You could keep your bottom."
But she shook her head. "That's over. I want to force myself to go all in. Soon, maybe, or not. Mom and Dad both said it was my decision."
I accepted that, and soon enough, the three of us were in the car.
"Gabriella asked me to do a speech."
"I heard. She was so happy. She likes you a lot, you know?" Said my mom.
"I like her a lot too."
"Did you write it?"
"I did. I even practiced it." I gave them the speech in the car, and they liked it.
When we arrived, there were a few more cars than expected, and we arrived before the official opening hours.
The supper was at 5:30; it was only 4:45.
We made it to the main entrance, as requested, where a man we didn't know stood on the other side of the door, fully dressed. He holds a clipboard.
"Is that food for supper?" He said.
"Yes, a roast," said my mom.
He checks. "Steven and Kylie?" He asks.
"That's us. And Julie."
"Good! Drop the food in the cafeteria just behind me, and go undress in the sports block. We only have the cafeteria until 7:00."
"Thank you, and you are?"
"Oh, I am Connor, one of Gabriella's brothers."
"Are you a naturist too?" My dad asked.
"Yeah, but I am on door duty; I will undress later."
"Nice," my dad said, and we left our roast to Connor, who would send it to the kitchen while we went to undress.
In the changing room, we catch Marge, Ellie, and Richard, all already nude and in the process of locking their locker.
"Julie!" Says Marge, who comes to hug me.
This is atypical of her, so I ask her if she is alright.
"I am great. Mom, can I hang with Julie?"
"Of course, Dad and I will be in the cafeteria," says Ellie, but then she turns to my mom, who was already in the process of removing her dress. "You'll join us soon?"
"Oh, right away, I had nothing on under," my mom says, now nude but with her shoes on, with her towel on her shoulder.
This left my dad with a longer undressing as the only dressed person once I removed my sundress. He would put his clothes and his lady's clothes in the locker with the padlock.
Like Marge, I removed my shoes, and she basically pulled me to the bleachers, each holding our towels in our other hand.
"You are quite a surprise today," I said.
We sat, and she turned to me. "I spoke to my mom."
"About what?"
"About my dating life."
"Oh, and I take it that it went well?"
"She stopped me at first, saying that Dad should be there too. So I told them both about my exes and the people I am seeing right now."
"Wait, you are seeing multiple people?"
"It's not that simple. Like, there is this guy I had sex with twice, and, like, we aren't dating, so it's not like we can break up? So I never know whether I will have sex with him again or not."
"How do you do it?"
"I don't know. I just do, I guess? Anyway, she was very supportive. Even though I had an ex-girlfriend, and she grounded me in the cutest way."
"Wait, you are grounded?"
"Not today. Tomorrow."
"What do you mean, in the cutest way?"
"I am grounded for depriving her of the chance to meet my girlfriend. That I was secretive and didn't trust her about that."
I laugh. "That... sounds like Ellie."
"I know, right? Why was I scared?"
"Because too many parents are homophobic."
"I am not an homosexual."
"Fine, bi-phobic."
"Oh, right. So, your date?"
I told her about it. She was unusually excited about it. Later, I learned why, and well, I might as well tell you now. It's called autistic joy. Marge didn't have it that hard; she wasn't jumping up and down, but it's clear that she was emotionally overstimulated.
As if everything were felt too strongly.
We slowly strolled toward the cafeteria. I only knew of it because of the time that Billie had sneaked us into his school, but since the gate was open, I didn't need to use the secret passage.
When we got there, I noticed there were a lot more people than I assumed. Gabriella was there, talking to an older woman; my parents were with... Clara and Peter?
I look around and make eye contact with Mindy. She sees me, confused, and then runs toward Marge and me, Billie in tow.
"Julie? You? Here? Wow, I missed the memo."
"Yeah, I returned to naturism only last week."
Mindy is a born and raised naturist, but I could feel that she wanted to hug me but was pushed back by years of training about not touching other nude bodies.
"Can I say, wow, you really became a hot woman? Amazing," she says, looking at me, making me blush. "Don't you think so," she says, turning toward her boyfriend.
"No comments," he said, blushing. He had a lot more body hair than I remember. Like, a lot more.
"You'll never guess who is here, in the kitchen."
I look around, trying to guess, but then I see Robert.
"Is Lucy here?" I say.
"With Clark! They are responsible for the soup, under orders of my mom."
"Wow. This is quite a reunion," I said. Honestly? I was almost on the verge of autistic joy myself. Reuniting with Mindy and Billy and with Lucy and Clark. All that was left was for Beth to show up, but of course, like I said, I never saw her again.
It didn't take long for Gabriella to come around. This was only the second time I saw her nude, after seeing her dressed up every day, and I forgot how hot she is for a teacher.
"Julie! I am so happy you are here. Do you have your speech ready?"
"I do!"
"Good. I hope you and your friends enjoy the feast. Don't try to eat too much, kids, so you don't get sick in the pool," she says, laughing in a weird, fake laugh.
She leaves her and goes to talk to other people.
"You have a speech?" Says Mindy.
"Yeah, about how naturism helped me. She's my dance coach and my social studies teacher."
"Wow, what a small world. Her husband and she rented a cabin all summer next to our house because their new house wasn't quite ready yet," she says.
"I like her."
"Oh, she is nice," says Mindy.
We weren't sure what to do or where to go. So we left to go walking.
"We adopted Edith this week," I told Mindy.
"She told me! Amazing. I am so happy for her."
Marge was calming down, and Billy was rather silent. So I told Mindy.
"I am so happy to see you again."
"Hey, I am not the one who broke the friendship."
To my surprise, Marge spoke up.
"She didn't. Ritalin did. You should have stood by her side," says Marge, a little angry and judgmental.
"I told you I would be there for her if she wanted to. She clearly didn't want me," says Mindy.
"Hey, don't fight. I didn't even want to be myself. I didn't know who I was or what I wanted."
"You were Olivia's friend."
I sigh. "She isn't a naturist, and, I mean, you saw me."
"So what?" Says Mindy. "I wasn't your friend for what you looked like."
"Sure, but I had my own issues. But I am putting them behind me. Maybe we can be friends again?" I tell her.
"I guess," she says, a little shook.
I look at Marge, and she nods. Just nods. Her way to let me know we did good, I guess?
We ended up going for a walk around the school. Billy showed us his locker and his classes, and we just, well, joked around. It felt good.
Mindy even joked around with me. It almost felt like we were back as friends.
By the time we made it back to the cafeteria, they had begun serving food, and I noticed that a lot more people had arrived. This included Carmen, Piper, and both of their families, but also plenty of people I saw last week that I just didn't know. But also some I did know, like Julie's and Clark's parents
But mainly, I saw Lucy, who did a double take when seeing me. "Ji?" She said.
"It's me."
"Wow, you grew up."
I laugh. "No, I developed. I am barely taller."
She laughed.
Clark said. "We've missed you, Ji."
I barely noticed him, but the truth is that I kept in touch by email and phone with Lucy, but not with him.
We picked a table, the one where Billy usually eats, and we all sat there. I ended up in front of Lucy and had Marge on my right and Mindy on my left.
My three favorite naturist teenagers were all around me. Edith was missing, but she was only into family nudity, not social nudity.
I didn't need to be caught up on Lucy's progress. I know I should have told you I was still in contact with her, but the reality is that not much ever came from our emails. It's like that. I would hear about her studies; she would hear about mine.
I think that the moment under the comforter, when I learned about her anxiety, made us friends but broke the illusion. And the reality is that being older than I am, we don't have that much in common. Especially while I wasn't a naturist.
Gabriella asked for our attention as she said grace, not just for "our Lord Jesus Christ," but also for everyone who came here and for everyone who helped cook, naming a long list of people. She even thanked Luke, the incumbent president, for allowing this gathering.
It's Gabriella, her mom, her sister, and Clara who carried the food over to a table to serve as a buffet.
My social studies teacher decided to pick one person per table and to play a game to pick the order. She picked me, of course, but also Anna (Clark's mother), Carmen (from my parents's table), Jaclyn, Sandra, the lifeguard, and one of Gabriella's sisters. In short, only women.
We went in a circle, with Gabriella in the middle.
"I will point to someone. That person needs to lift one hand up and hold their elbow. Her neighbors need to extend their arms in the opposite direction. That makes an elephant."
A man I didn't know yelled. "It would be easier to make a trunk with guys"
But Gabriella replied quickly with a harsh tone. "Patrick, there are kids in here. Don't be rude"
I didn't get it, but Billie later explained it, and well, it's not funny.
We made a practice run where, of course, she picked me.
Anna was the first eliminated, so they would pick last. Carmen was next, so my parents and my friend's parents would pick next to last. Jaclyn was next, leaving only Sandra, Gabriella's sister (whose name escapes me), and me. This meant all three of us would need to react each time.
I ended up with Gabriella's sister in the final when Sandra picked the wrong ear side. She adjusted herself, but it was too late.
With just two of us, the one not picked would do both ears.
Well, I lost. Not because I made a mistake, but Gabriella's sister was just able to predict her sister's move and pre-positioned herself.
It didn't matter. We were second, and soon enough, it was our turn. We were assured we could do multiple visits to the buffet once every table had gone.
I thus picked stuff that seemed low-calorie, including a couscous that seemed pretty bare, pieces of cooked chicken breasts, and plenty of veggies, on a barely present layer, present only for the look. I would leave it on my plate.
We all ate with appetite, except perhaps me. I had less and less appetite recently, which suited me fine. We laughed a lot. I heard quite a few funny stories, notably how the teenager-run corn maze occurred. Spoilers: it was a disaster.
I also learned of a wasp attack that hit Mindy, Billy (twice), Peter, and whoever AJ is. I don't even know whether it's a man or a woman. An adult or a child. Not even to this day.
But it's not so much the story itself as the way that Mindy and Billy wanted to add to each other's stories, which was funny.
I learned about the time that Marge and even Charlie spent at the resort, but Charlie actually spent quite a lot of time nude, and also that it was a deal to get more freedom. Still, Marge enjoyed it.
To my surprise, Edith joined him a few times and even slept over, but only topless.
I knew she was with Charlie a few times, but I didn't know it was there for some of those days.
Lucy and Clark had visited France and loved it. They were planning to spend some time there, and you already know that as I am writing this, they live there permanently.
We talked a little about my dance classes, and Lucy was sad to not be available to go to the recital, but I didn't learn why. Was this a social anxiety issue? She would never tell me. We no longer had the complicity of that perfect cold morning.
I didn't mind. I had that moment; I had those moments. I will cherish them all of my life.
But seeing Lucy again did me a lot of good. Same for seeing Sandra. I even got to talk to her a little later in the evening. She is very friendly.
I didn't eat my whole plate, but what I ate was delicious. There was apparently a luscious dessert, but it wasn't time to splurge. I was soon at my target weight but not there yet, even if my friends thought I was done.
Not quite, but soon.