Halfway There

Rose sighed as her eyes sleepily blinked while she stared at the TV. She was on hour 4 of a nature documentary about birds, and despite her initial mental investment in the story of a mother raising her chicks, she soon found herself bored to tears. The time at home was beginning to wear down on her. Rose wanted to be hanging out with her friends, going outside, doing ANYTHING that didn't involve watching TV all day as a naked, bored couch potato. Instead, here she was couped up inside all because of her psychiatrist's odd, and embarrassing prescription.

Her initial embarrassment at being told she needed to spend almost an entire week in the nude had been mortifying. Given she lived at home with her parents, Rose had been unable to avoid being exposed in front of them on a regular basis. The first 2 days had been fairly embarrassing, but both herself and her parents had adjusted to her unintended nudist lifestyle only within a couple of days. Jude had even managed to rip the band-aid off on her best friend Cindy seeing and experiencing Rose's predicament, but she adjusted to Rose's new state of dress with surprising ease, albeit at the cost of teasing Rose about it on a semi-regular basis ever since.

Now, Rose was beginning to feel that familiar itch she felt almost every day. The urge to go outside. The first 3 days of her nudist treatment, Rose had not felt the insatiable urge to get out of the house almost entirely due to the fact that given her predicament, going outside meant wasting what could be precious time clothed. At her mom's advice, she decided to reserve her 'clothed time' strictly for either events that were already planned, or emergencies. If she wasted the time going outside every day, she wouldn't be leaving herself much time to work with at all if something that required her to leave the house occurred. Her mom's exact words had been "If you don't adhere to the treatment EXACTLY, then the psychiatrist might just prescribe it again."

"You look pretty bored." Rose's mom said bluntly, as she walked into the room from the foyer. She was wearing her jogging gear, which consisted of a sweat-stained gray sweater and form-fitting black sweatpants.

"...You look pretty exhausted. Have a good run?" Rose asked, looking back at her mom with a raised eyebrow.

Rose's mom panted slightly, but smiled. "Yeah... I bumped up my best time today! Which is pretty surprising, since I slacked out on running on Saturday. You enjoying your uhh..." Rose's mom began to ask, looking towards the TV screen. "...Birds?"

"Nothing good is on... But this is the best I could find." Rose said with a lazy, mildly defeated shrug.

Rose's mom thought for a moment, and looked down at her daughter before putting her hand on her shoulder. "You know... I ran into Estelle on the way back. She said that her boys are gone on a camping trip today, and won't be back until tomorrow morning. Why not swing next door and get some sun and a good swim in? It would be good for you, given you aren't able to get a lot of time outside. You're already looking pretty pale." She suggested, as Rose looked up with a raised eyebrow.

Rose considered her mom's suggestion. A swim in the her French neighbors' heated pool sounded too good to pass up on. Rose and her family had made use of the pool several times the last few years after the Corbins moved in and proudly declared that their family could swim next door any time they wanted, so long as the let them know ahead of time. But, it would also mean putting on a swimsuit, and she debated the idea for a moment. "I don't know, I mean... I'd have to go get my bikini, and I'm supposed to video chat Cindy later tonight... And I am NOT doing that without at least a shirt." Rose said, causing her mom to laugh.

"Fair enough, fair enough." Rose's mom said, before her eyes widened as though overcome with an idea. She looked back at Rose, a rare, mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Then why not just go as you are? I'm sure Estelle won't mind. I mean, she's French, right? I've heard they swim topless on a regular basis." Rose's mom said, waving her hand dismissively.

Rose looked back at her mom in surprise. "Wait. You think I should go swim next door like this?" Rose said, gesturing to her body. A slight shade of pink crept to her cheeks. "I mean... I can't go outside naked mom..." Rose sheepishly said.

"Why not? All you'd have to do is go out the back door, go through the fence gate, and bam! You can just hop in the pool! Easy! Nobody would even see you, and there's a chance not even Estelle would bother to come outside. I already told her you might be coming over for a swim." Rose's mom encouraged.

Rose blushed, thinking about walking outside, in the bright sunlight, completely naked. What if one of the neighbors saw her? That would be fairly embarrassing, not to mention the fact that she would be skinny dipping in the neighbors' pool! "I... But what if Estelle does see me? She might get mad I'm swimming naked in THEIR pool! That's not exactly something you should do in someone else's pool, especially not without permission..." Rose said, subconsciously gripping her elbow out of anxiety.

Rose's mom rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. You've seen what she lets her boys get away with over there! I mean, they don't even bother putting on swimsuits, and just swim in their underwear about half the time. Plus, without getting into too much detail, I ASSURE you. She's not a prude. Estelle would have NO issues with you, assuming she saw you." Rose's mom encouraged. She could see Rose debating the idea, but clearly not committed. "Look at yourself... You haven't been outside for more than maybe 10 minutes a day since Saturday. I can tell you want to get out. This is perfect!" Rose's mom said with a smile, pointing to the sliding glass door in the kitchen that led out into the backyard.

Rose bit her lip. Going outside naked was pretty high up on her list of things that she had decided she would NOT do during her treatment. That was practically asking for trouble! But her mom had made a rather convincing argument for a quick swim next door. Even though it was November, and likely at least close to freezing outside, her neighbors' pool was heated and functioned year round. Rose had no idea how they afforded such an expense, but it was much to her own benefit over the years, effectively acting as a pool-sized hot tub.