[TOURNAMENT] Balcony Showdown

The party had started around lunchtime. A small gathering of friends led to a cloudy day spent on the rooftop terrace. A firm covering of artificial grass and a selection of chairs and beanbags allowed the high school friends to relax and gossip. This was the middle of their spring vacation. Nobody could afford a trip to Miami, so they'd stayed home and tried to make the best of it.

"You remember what we discussed last week?" asked Ellie.

"About what?" said Adine, who was already a little drunk and swaying in time to the music.

"The tournament," cried Ellie.

Adina shrugged, not paying much attention to the conversation. Ellie turned to look at her friends, who were listening with eagerness.

"Oh..." said Cami. "_That _tournament?"

The girls giggled as it finally came to mind. They'd only half-joked about conducting a bra and panties tournament. Like most of their plans, they passed into memory with little more than a 'maybe later'. With Spring Break being a bust in the sun department, it could serve as a little way to pass the time.

Each friend nodded slowly. Some, like Ellie and Cami were confident that they would have a chance of winning. Adina rarely cared about much of anything, but usually went along with the group if there was a majority. Janina giggled, but whether out of nerves or out of how naughty it was nobody could see. Only Nye seemed nervous, as the most prudish of the group.

"Great," Ellie declared. "Now nobody can cheat since you didn't know when it was going to happen."

"What are the rules?" asked Janina. "We don't want anyone to get seriously hurt."

Ellie thought about it. "Let's keep it at no striking, so nobody gets punched in the face. Nothing dirty, either. If they wouldn't allow it in sports we shouldn't allow it here. But we can discuss as a group if we see something we don't like."

Nye shuffled on her beanbag. She didn't like the sound of that.

"Other than that, strip your opponent down to her bra and panties. No rules other than that. We'll play round robin. Two girls up. The winner can get dressed again. The loser stays in whatever's left for the rest of the day."

"But there are five of us," said Cami.

Ellie rubbed her chin. "Good point. We need to decide what's fair. Any ideas, girls?"

"I know," said Janina. "We have two matches. The winner of those go through to a final. The girl who didn't compete fights the one who had the easiest win. So if someone beats someone in ten seconds, they have to fight again, otherwise it wouldn't be fair. One of us would be tired. We should play rock, paper, scissors, with the loser deciding who's going first."

"You're missing something," Cami swept her hand at the group. "Some of us are wearing more clothes. And some of us have easier clothes to take off. How is that fair?"

Ellie shrugged. "Nobody said this had to be scientific. You fight in what you have."

Nye looked taken aback at that but said nothing.

The girls agreed. The tournament was set. This would be interesting.

The five girls got together to begin the tournament. They didn't need any mats to put down. The grass was cushioned and good enough for their purposes. Each of them threw the first round of rock, paper, scissors.

Three girls threw rock, with the other two throwing paper. Both Adina and Cami were not going to fight this round.

The second round of rock, paper, scissors played out, with Janina throwing rock and the other two scissors.

"Damn it," Nye cursed. "This isn't fair."

"Why not?" asked Ellie. "It's only a game of luck. What do you expect?"

"Still, you're bigger than me."

Cami snickered. "Everyone is bigger than you. It doesn't mean you don't have a chance if you play it smart."

"Enough talking, girls, let's get to it."

Ellie and Nye took their places in the wide open space, as the rest of the girls huddled on the sofa and the beanbags at the back of the terrace.