Arriving at the lake

It’s about a 30 minute drive out to the lake, and though you start the trip jittery over the impending social contact, it’s not long before Amy gets you to loosen up a bit. She pulls a cord out of a small backpack she brought and starts playing some music, and soon enough the two of you are just chatting about whatever bullshit happened the past week, movies you’d seen or that were coming out soon, anything that came to mind. You feel pretty relaxed just hanging out with a friend, up until you turn onto the dirt road up leading to Rebecca’s lake house. By the time you see the lights from the building and the waterline last the trees, both the sun in the sky and the mood in the car start to drop. When Amy tells a joke and doesn’t get at least an exasperated sigh back, she notices something is up, and nudges you in the side as you put the car in park.

“Lighten up, man!” she says, tossing her phone into her bag, “You look like you’re ready to turn the car around and drive right back!”

“Don’t tempt me,” you mutter, and Amy rolls her eyes with a short chuckle.

“Oh no you don’t! You’re gonna have a good time tonight if it kills you!” Noticing that she hasn’t improved your mood, Amy sighs. “Look, just stick with me if you’re feeling out of your depth, and try and relax, okay? If it sucks that bad, we can head home, but you gotta promise me you’ll try to enjoy something about this party, okay?”

“...Yeah, alright,” you say, turning the car off, and stepping into the surprisingly warm night air.

“Promise!” Amy says, joining you as you walk up to the door.

“Alright, alright! I promise,” you say, reaching out for the doorknob. You hesitate, and Amy pushes past you to open it herself, dragging you by the sleeve behind her.

There were more than a few cars outside, but you walk in realizing that you can’t tell if this is a big or small number of people for a party. Considering your lack of party experience and all. Amy seems unperturbed, waving and saying hi to the handful of people you pass moving into the living room of the cabin. Through the sliding glass doors, you see a few people down on a dock and a few more in the water. Standing at the edge of the pier is the host herself, Rebecca, wearing a tight, side tie pair of black bikini bottoms, and presumably a matching top under her t-shirt, tied under her chest to show off her toned stomach. Climbing up the ladder next to her is another of her cheerleading squad, your one-time friend Candy, who you try not to stare too hard at as she readjusts the pink bikini starting to sag with water.

“You lookin’ to join in or window shop a little while longer?” Amy says, elbowing you. You mumble a half-hearted defense and she grins. “Hey, no shame in it! But you’re gonna have to put some skin in the game yourself if you want a closer look.” She slings her backpack forward and opens it, pulling out bundle of purple fabric for herself to wear. “Let’s get changed, and then you can follow my lead out there, alright? Unless you have a problem with that?”