My Freaky Freshman Year Pt. 04

My Freaky Freshman Year

Chapter 4 of 4

All characters are over the age of 18 at the time of any sexual activity.

Spring Break puts Theo and Lily at a crossroads.

A huge shout out to my beta readers and editors: thatsbogus, SpotInTheSand, and Rawsilhouette, all fantastic Lit authors. Consider browsing their author pages for some great stories.

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I roused at the sound of knuckles on wood. A moment of confusion swept through me as I tried to assemble the pieces of where I was. I cracked my eyelids open, seeing bright sunlight already streaming through an expanse of glass facing the ocean.

We're in Daytona Beach, I put together.

I wriggled in the bed, feeling the now softer sensation of my skin against the satiny sheets.

And we switched bodies last night. Shit.

The conversation we'd had the night before played in my head, fuzzy and disjointed in parts, but clear in others. Our chance hookup was only facilitated by physical proximity, and certainly didn't change anything between us. If anything, I'd practically challenged her to...

God, what did I do?

Find some guys! I'd said, You're in the Spring Break Capital of the world!

The challenge I'd unwittingly backed in to seemed less cogent after a night of sleep, and doubly stupid now that we'd unintentionally switched bodies.

The knocking started again, this time more insistently.

I sat bolt upright in bed, feeling the pleasant weight of my borrowed breasts. As the door to our room opened, my brain finally kicked into gear as I locked eyes with Dean. He stood in the doorway, staring at my bare chest. He flashed me an appreciative nod and shit-eating grin as I finally thought to pull a sheet up over myself. I pushed on Lily's firm shoulder to wake her up.

Watching her come to grips with our current situation was a bit entertaining. After a few pointed glances between her and Dean, I finally telegraphed that she needed to be Theo.

"Hey dude," said Lily appropriately, her deep morning voice gravelly. She sat up in bed, exposing her muscular torso in the warm light.

Dean glanced between us a few times, probably correctly assuming that we'd slept together. If he was surprised, he didn't show it.

"Hope yesterday's warm-up was good, because the real fun starts now," said Dean with a smile. "We're all going to the Pearl, they have their official kickoff party today."

He explained that the Pearl was some kind of exclusive beach and pool club a quarter mile or so up the beach. The club apparently had a yearly tradition of going all out for the first day of Spring Break. Live music, beach games, plenty of food and drinks, and obviously guaranteed shenanigans. He had of course obtained the expensive tickets in advance.

"It's legit off the hook, you have to go," he said. "Bring your party 'A' game!"

Lily piped up, her logic already dealing with details and logistics. "We forgot sunglasses, and Lily needs a suit. We need to Uber to a store before we go."

"Take a car," said Dean offhandedly. "There's like four of them in the garage, keys should be by the door."

"Cool."

Dean flashed us a double thumbs-up and left.

I turned to gaze at Lily, still gazing at me and awkwardly trying to reconcile looking at her own face and body through my eyes.

"So we're doing this, huh?" I said, crossing my arms over my now-larger chest.

"Aren't we here to relax and do the whole Spring Break thing?" She arched an eyebrow at me.

"Well, yeah, but-- this," I said, gesturing between us. "We're switched."

Lily gave me an incredulous glare. "Oh, so you don't want me to see how easy it is for guys to slut around without any consequences?"

How is she making long sentences this early?

"Or do you think you won't have as much fun without your pecs and perfect hair?"

Dammit Lily, what the fuck?

I blinked a few times and stared at her. The look on her face could have been from any clash from kindergarten through senior year. While her tone of voice didn't actively suggest any kind of challenge, she was still getting under my skin.

Okay, we're doing this.

"Is it me then?" she asked, softening. "Does it make you uncomfortable to be in my body?" She gazed at me with what appeared to be genuine empathy. "Not how you wanted to spend your first day of Spring Break?"

My brain had already picked up the baton she'd held out and I glossed over her last line of questions.

"I'm perfectly comfortable in your body," I tutted. "Maybe you're the one that's not comfortable right now."

Her face twisted into a smug grin that I'd seen countless times in the last dozen years.

Here we go again. I flashed back to the first week leading up to prom. It was like we were even competing to be each other better.

I flashed again to our tipsy, coital conversation from the evening before.

"You know what? We're adults. We've been in each other's lives through good and bad stuff. Can we just agree we're gonna try and have fun and not make this a stupid competition please?"

She studied me for a moment.

"Okay, fine," she said, her face not quite agreeing yet.

"Good." My ego puffed up at my apparently successful attempt at diffusing the situation. "We can be reasonable people and still crush this awesome beach party."

A smile pulled at her mouth as she reconciled my apparently unexpected challenge.

"Yes," she said. "Thanks for putting me in my place," she added, now grinning widely, "frickin' monkey hormones..."

I laughed out loud and shoved her firm shoulder.

"Now come on and let's get up, apparently I need to go buy a swimsuit."

We got out of bed and padded to the bathroom. Seeing her strong shoulders as I followed her, I couldn't help but marvel at the almost instantaneous switch that came from inhabiting her body. We switched spots at the wide vanity, now needing the bathroom supplies the other had packed. Lily grabbed my electric razor and began to buzz it over her face.

"Don't forget to shave your legs, and..." she gestured crudely to her crotch.

I huffed and walked into the large shower. Washing quickly, I found the routine of running the disposable razor up and down my long legs came back quickly. She walked in a moment later and turned on the opposite shower head. I fought the urge to go snuggle up to her and maybe cop a feel of her muscular body.

We dressed, again adjusting to digging into the wrong suitcase. By the time we were ready to leave, things felt a bit better, at least on my side. She was offhandedly giving me warm smiles, and the ocean breeze flowing in our balcony door would have made anyone relax.

We each grabbed a muffin in the kitchen and made our way to the garage. Lily spotted the rack of keys and took a fob, a three-pointed star emblazoned on the back.

"Will this work?" she grinned.

We found the convertible 500SL in the garage, top already down.

"Dammit," I said, ogling the expensive vehicle. "I'm gonna need a hair tie."

Lily dug into her pocket and handed me a stretchy band. "I brought you one, figured you might need it."

"Thanks," I said, a breath catching in my throat at the unexpected kindness. I choked it down and quickly tied up my blonde hair into a ponytail. "Do I get to drive?" She tossed me the fob and we climbed in.

I pulled out and took the beach frontage road northward. Lily pulled up the map on her phone and found a surf and sporting goods store that looked like a strong contender. She punched it into the nav screen for me.

We stopped at a drive-through coffee cart on the way. The young guy working there was none too subtle about looking down the front of my sundress as he leaned out the window. I flashed him an encouraging smile and gave him a good tip after we got our caramel frappe's.

The shop we picked wasn't busy yet, and fortunately had a good selection of outdoorwear and accessories. We found sunglasses first. I picked out an oversized pair that wasn't particularly comfortable, but looked appropriate for a beach party. Lily found some single-lens wraps with a blue finish. They wouldn't have been my choice either, but she was driving the Theo bus at the moment.

We found the swimwear section and without consulting each other, each selected a suit. Mine was a simple white two-piece. The high-cut waist showed off the bottom of my hourglass nicely, and the top was kind of a single piece of fabric made into a tube. A bandeau, the salesgirl said, whatever that was. I slipped into the dressing room and tried the suit on. The bottoms fit great and the top seemed to support the girls nicely. I jumped in place a few times.

Not too much bounce, good.

I cracked the door and slipped out and found Lily waiting for me, wearing just the suit she'd chosen.

Holy shit...

I tried and quickly failed not to get aroused by the sight of my own body. The dark gray swim briefs were skimpier than any underwear guy-me owned, the sides along her hips narrowing to less than an inch of fabric. The front pouch definitely had its work cut out for it, but looked to be a double layer suitable for actual swimmers. I sucked in a breath as I glanced down, the bulge from her sizable cock still obvious.

Lily raised an eyebrow as she looked up and down my body and my more modest swimsuit choice.

"That's what you picked out?"

I glared back at her.

"Whatever, it's your body." She turned to walk back to the dressing room. "I'm gonna go get sunscreen, meet you at the register."

The salesgirl I'd been talking to waited until Lily was out of earshot.

"Oh, sweetie, I think it looks nice on you. I mean, literally anything would look nice on you, but he doesn't get to dictate--"

"It's okay," I cut in, an impish thought popping into my head. "You know what, he's right. Gimme something that'll drive him absolutely crazy. You have anything like that?"

The girl mirrored my mischievous smile. "Yup, be right back."

The entire bright red swimsuit would have fit crumpled up in my hand. The bottom was a thong, the straps barely wide enough to have seamed edges. The tapered triangle in the front would not have worked if I hadn't shaved my lady parts smooth this morning. The top was equally revealing. The same narrow straps ran around my back in a tie, connecting the triangular cups that barely held my boobs in place. They plumped deliciously out both sides, with nice cleavage in the middle.

I gawked at myself in the full length mirror.

Hot damn.

I'd stared at myself in Lily's body before, always still appreciating the view. Now though, the changes she'd made were just extra -- the cute belly-button bar piercing, the blonde hair, and now this arguably scandalous swimsuit. But this was also me, at least for now. Images flooded in of my own male body, my strong chest and arms, everything I just saw on exquisite display in a minuscule Speedo. Other flashes, both guys and girls at our vacation house, Candy, Dean, Sara, Aiden...

I'd quickly worked myself into a horny mess. I took a few calming breaths, opened the door and called the salesgirl in.

"Think this'll work?" I asked, full well knowing the answer.

"If he doesn't have you on a pedestal in about five seconds... you'll have no trouble finding a boy that will. Especially here," she added with a grin. She glanced down at my suit bottoms and pulled her face into an uncomfortable grimace. "You forgot to leave your underwear on..."

I gasped and looked down toward my barely covered mound.

"You know, when trying on swimsuits?" she added quietly.

"My bad, I'm so sorry," I gushed. "I'll just buy it. I can't wait to see the look on his face anyway."

"He is pretty hot," she said with a conspiratorial grin.

I chuckled and nodded. "Take the tag off for me?" I asked, feeling it hang off the strap around my back. "I'm just gonna wear it out."

I pulled my sundress on over my new bikini and thanked the salesgirl. I snagged a gauzy cover-up wrap on the way toward the check-out. Lily was waiting there, her purchases already rung up.

"Here," she said, handing me an envelope with Lily written on the front. I opened it and quickly counted a thousand dollars in hundreds. "Wow..." I took two out and paid for my things. She didn't ask about my suit when I handed only the tag to the cashier.

Lily was eager to drive as we left the store, so I gave her the key fob. She tore out onto the main street, grinning like an idiot as the car rocketed us back toward the house.

Everyone appeared to be up and around when we returned. A group of girls was out on the pool deck applying sunscreen. I walked out, knowing I'd never hear the end of it if I got Lily's perfect skin a sunburn on the first full day of vacation.

"Holy shit, girlfriend!" said Candy as I pulled my sundress off. "After your shorts on the side of the pool yesterday, I didn't think we'd see any skin from you."

"Just getting warmed up," I said with a grin. "Yours is cute too, bee-tee-dubs."

"Thanks, babe. I think it'll do what it's supposed to."

Candy's yellow bikini covered only slightly more than mine, with maybe inch-wide straps underneath the bra cups and again holding the bottoms together, arching high over her hips. We switched positions, and I rubbed the bright white lotion into her back and shoulders.

"Theo seen this yet?" she asked.

"No," I said coolly, reaching under her back strap with the sunscreen.

"Maybe trying to make a point?" she asked.

"Maybe."

I climbed the stairs back to our room, finding it empty. I fished through Lily's bathroom bag and found the tube of bright red lipstick I was looking for. I applied and blotted, rather pleased that it matched my suit perfectly. I pulled on the sunglasses, then blew a kiss to the mirror and trotted back downstairs.

Lily wandered out with the other guys a few minutes later, her reaction at seeing me both predictable and satisfying. She didn't say anything, but gave me a prolonged stare that made me flush.

Through my sunglasses, the dark lenses let me catch wonderful eyefuls of the toned, tanned flesh that surrounded me. The first few times we switched it was strange, being attracted to guys. By this point I just went with it -- the body wanted what the body wanted. She caught me checking out the other guys and arched an eyebrow, I just smiled back. I was rapidly becoming more okay with my situation.

Dean wandered around the assembling group and handed out tickets to the club. Everyone appeared ready to go, so he led the way through a gate out to the beach. I pulled on my coverup and casually sauntered over to Lily as we made our way down the sand.

"This suit better?" I asked with a smug grin.

"You're evil," she said, arching an eyebrow above her sunglasses. "I'm practically doing mediation exercises just to keep from popping a boner."

"So you like looking at me like this?"

"Obviously," she said under her breath.

"I do like your Speedos," I said, hooking a finger in the side of her suit before letting it snap back against her hip.

"Brat!" she said playfully.

This felt better, good even, like our normal banter. I instinctually grabbed her hand and interlaced our fingers. We turned to look at each other, a pair of poker faces wondering what the other was thinking and what hand they'd play next.

We walked down the sand in silence for a few minutes and I tried to center my thinking. I looked ahead and smiled. Aiden and Sara, our traveling partners, had their hands similarly clasped and were giving each other eyes.

"Wonder if they fucked last night..." said Lily brashly, her eyes obviously focused where mine were.

I giggled. "Testosterone overload there, Theo?"

She put a hand over her mouth as if she'd just realized what she said. "Jesus, your hormones in this place is... a lot."

"I'll give you that one," I said.

It was nearly ten as we approached the hotel club, the hot sun was already blazing down on us. Music was thumping against the rhythm of the lazy surf washing up the beach. Aside from a narrow stretch near the water, the area had been cordoned off with velvet ropes and temporary fencing. We joined a small queue that had gathered at one corner.

"Our tickets should let us come and go if you need to go back to the house and chillax or whatever," said Dean as we approached the front. "But if you leave before dark you're a giant pussy, right, Harper?" He slapped Lily on the back.

"The biggest of cunts," she said with a half smile, looking appropriately bro.

Everyone in earshot chuckled.

"Okay then, greatness awaits inside!"

We made our way through the line, exchanging our tickets for hand stamps. I glanced around, everyone was getting the same color, and nobody was checking IDs. I could see a bar less than thirty feet away, freely passing out a rainbow of Solo cups.

"Guess that answers that," said Lily under her breath to me, obviously thinking the same thing.

Despite it being mid-morning, we all eagerly took a vessel of liquid party from the bar. Mine tasted something like coconut and berries mixed together. It was sweet, probably belying how much cheap booze was under the surface. Our group began to intermix with the others coming in. I lost track of Lily for a moment, but she'd gathered near the guys from our house, probably wanting to blend in.

The club was enormous, stretching from the sectioned-off area of the beach, up a vast lawn, then into a pool complex surrounded by high rise hotel towers. Palm trees provided patches of shade, and manicured paths led every which way through the space.

I let the tie on my coverup fall open, easing myself into the titillating notion that I was about to be nearly nude in a crowd of hundreds of people. After a few swigs and wide scans around me, I wasn't even close to the only one. I saw a few girls with more conventionally sized bikinis, and a larger number of guys wearing the baggy swim trunks I wore yesterday. But by and large, people were here to show off their bodies. And by God, I was gonna appreciate them.

I spied Lily and Dean with a couple of other guys, huddled under an easy-up tent talking with someone behind a table.

"We're gonna get in on the sand volleyball tourney," said Lily as I approached, "you want in?"

"Nah, I'll just watch, I think. Can you imagine me spiking a ball in this?"

She gave my generous cleavage a look that suggested she was indeed imagining it.

"Okay, well see you 'round. You cool?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

I strolled down a few of the winding paths through the resort, sipping my drink and properly enjoying people watching. It wasn't lost on me that I was also being watched, which I was rapidly becoming more okay with. I began to take a mental inventory of all the places I wanted to hang out over the course of the day, assuming Lily didn't want me to watch her play in the sand for too long.

By the time I finished my drink, I was pleasantly buzzed. I said Hi to a few of our housemates as they began to get into their groove at various spots around the resort. I eventually wandered back down to the beach. The guys' impromptu volleyball team was about to play, so I plopped down into the sand. Candy appeared a moment later and sat next to me.

"You ever watched a game in person?" she asked. She'd been carrying two drinks and handed me one.

"Oh thanks. No, never in person. Looks like a pain in the ass, running in sand is hard."

"There's lots of hard things alright... asses and abs and pecs and biceps."

We giggled as the two teams assembled on the court. Indeed, the display of muscular, good looking young men was impressive. The alcohol had dulled my higher reasoning just enough that I had a brief moment of dissonant panic.

Why am I checking out guys? Oh, right...

I glanced down at my perfect set of breasts, barely contained by tiny triangles of red fabric, and swept my brief objections under the rug. We sat and watched them play, enjoying both teams' assets thoroughly. Our guys ended up losing pretty fast, but they took it in stride and shook hands with the winners.

"Sorry we couldn't pull out the W," said Dean pompously as he strode off the court. "Time to get wet anyway."

Our loose group trekked back up the lawn. Everyone with empty hands grabbed more cups on the way to the pool area, simply following the music. An impressive sound booth had been erected on the far side of a large waist-deep pool. The DJ manning the controls looked like she was preparing a set, can headphones over her head while some generic pop music thrummed from the large speakers.

After a few minutes of wading around, things started happening.

"What's up, Daytonaaaaa!" The DJ's amplified voice echoed off the buildings as the crowd cheered. "You ready to get Spring Break up in he-ah?" More cheering.

After a moment of silence, a single turntable scratch began a pounding baseline. As if linked in a single mind, everyone began jumping in time with the rhythm. Nobody was athletic enough to do it properly in water, but everyone tried and appeared to have a good time.

"Who wants to play a game?" blared the DJ's voice after a few minutes. Predictable cheering. "Okay, this is like musical chairs. When the music stops, you gotta kiss whoever's next to you. Boys, girls, cheeks, lips, doesn't matter. You just gotta smooch. Has to go until the music comes back. Ready?"

The bass line started again and people resumed water dancing. I looked nervously around, thinking regular musical chairs had its merits. Not five seconds later, the speakers went silent. A cacophony of voices and whoops went up as people scrambled. I swiveled my head, somehow hoping Lily had just happened to be behind me.

Candy dove toward me from my left, crashing into me before taking my cheeks in her hands. She leaned in and pressed her lips against mine. I got over the awkwardness and kissed her back, my brain getting some entertainment from the fact that she had no idea she was making out with the same person she ambushed last night.

The music started again and I pulled away, smiling at her. I glanced around, all manner of couples separating lips and cheeks. A few guys that had previously gathered in big groups looked a little embarrassed. They quickly dispersed.

"Thanks for saving me," I said, starting to move to the music again.

"Of course," she said, raising her glass, then tipping it back enthusiastically. "Where's Theo, anyway?"

"I dunno," I choked out, "I kinda lost him when we got here after volleyball."

"Well go get some then, girl! I'm out, see you around."

Candy waded away, empty cup in hand. I kept bouncing with the music, slowly working my way between groups of people in the pool. After a few minutes, I caught sight of Dean's perfect hair up ahead. Lily was close by, grooving to the music. I sloshed through the water and the crowd in their direction.

Without warning, the music stopped again. A similar low roar swept the pool as couples came together. I sucked in a breath and panicked a little, knowing I couldn't get to Lily, but not wanting to be the one left out either. I locked eyes with someone a few feet away. He smiled at me nervously and sloshed in my direction. Without a word, I grabbed him. I wrapped my arms around his smooth chest and let him kiss me.

My brain seemed to go into some kind of slow-mo as our mouths opened. Our tongues met tentatively, and I could feel his hard pecs flattening my breasts between us. The situation quickly went from awkward to something else.

How long is this gonna last?

My brain went in multiple directions, at least one of which was thinking about a different person than the cute guy kissing me. But the hands that were here and now... gently caressing my back, holding me in place but not trapping me. I sighed out through my nose as I finally registered that the music had started.

Okay, that just happened.

A brief pang of something guilt-adjacent pinged in the back of my head. I knew Lily and I weren't together, despite the interestingly argumentative sex we'd had the night before. My head finally centered on the fact that I was in Lily's body, not mine. We'd given each other permission to have a good time while swapped, but it still felt weird.

With a pair of toned arms still around me, I began to let my awkwardness slip away. I glanced in the direction I thought I'd seen Lily. Not twenty feet away, she was untangling her arms from around a pretty brunette who was giving her doe eyes. I saw the nervous smile on Lily's face as she extracted herself from the situation.

Lily and I somehow locked eyes across the space. We both stared, frozen for a minute, back to poker faces.

My mystery guy had pulled away and stood directly in front of me as I turned back, apparently waiting for something.

"I'm Jason," he said nervously. "Guess we probably don't need to shake hands."

"Yeah, probably not," I said, grinning. His flushing cheeks were cute. "I'm Lily."

"Nice to meet you, Lily. Sorry about that, I uh..."

"Just a fun game," I cut in, "don't worry about it."

He exhaled. "I had no idea they did stuff like this. Awkward, right?"

I laughed. "No kidding."

"K', maybe see ya 'round?"

Just like that, he was gone. I glanced in the direction I'd spied Lily, she'd obviously moved off elsewhere as well. I sighed out a deep breath and watched everyone still jumping and sloshing around me. Deciding to wade out of the dance pool, I weaved between the growing crowd of people enjoying the music.

I'd just climbed the steps out of the pool when the music stopped again. I spun around to get a voyeuristic thrill and got an eyeful of people again locking lips with friends and strangers.

As if laser guided, my eyes found two people sandwiched together, one in a grey Speedo and the other in a tiny yellow bikini. Lily had her arms under Candy's, lifting the redhead out of the water enough to properly make out. Tongues were definitely involved. The sadistic DJ let the forced make out session go almost thirty seconds.

I waited for my already-tipsy brain to ping with jealousy or even detached regret. Something blend of the two tugged at me for a brief second, but vanished as I watched them finally separate and share a smile. The set of emotions I'd historically associated with Lily Whitlock shone brightly, now front and center.

Game on.

The part of me that was quickly revving up to our latest competition made a suggestion.

I need another drink.

The nearest table of cups was fully stocked. I grabbed two, a pink and a green. I downed the green one in one pull and tossed the cup. The second accompanied me away from the dance pool debauchery.

I calmed myself as I walked, probably assisted by the alcohol in my currently watermelon-flavored beverage. I strolled the trails, having to use a bit more concentration to get my feet in the right direction. Eventually, my bladder insisted on a new direction.

God, I gotta piss.

Scanning the area around me, I found a low-roofed building near one of the other pools with restroom signs. I slid my sunglasses onto my forehead and walked in, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting inside. A row of guys fully occupied the wall of urinals. I unabashedly admired the firm rear ends neatly lined up for me, a split second before the realization kicked in.

I glanced at the large mirror behind the row of sinks and sucked in a breath.

One of these things is not like the others.

A guy just finishing his business noticed me a split second later. His shock quickly morphed into a hungry stare, then a lecherous grin. Some wordless bro-network had apparently activated and they all turned around.

"Line for the girls room was way too fuckin' long," my mouth offered on it's own. "Hope you guys don't mind." Somehow, hearing it in Lily's voice was hilarious. I missed a probably entertaining mix of facial expressions as I dashed into a stall and slammed the door closed.

I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing as I sat down. With my other hand, I pulled the narrow strip of the thong aside and almost violently emptied my bladder. When I'd finally finished, I confidently strode out of the stall toward the sinks.

None of the guys had left. I made a bit of a show leaning down to wash my hands, imagining the delicious view of my exposed ass cheeks they were getting. I smiled widely as I dried my hands off and left.

Lily's gonna get a kick out of this when I tell her. I should probably eat something, my brain piped up, likely asking for help to slow the flow of booze into my gray matter.

I wandered more, eventually finding a nice spread of food close to one of the hotel towers. With a loaded plate, I found a bench and dug in.

The sun beat down on me as I ate. Even wearing almost nothing, my legs were sweating where I touched the bench. I finished one last chicken strip and tossed the rest, vowing to find a bottle of water. I found one straightaway, in a big metal bucket of ice near the entrance to a lazy river.

Ooh, that looks nice!

I got in a short line and grabbed a tube from the attendant girl who was for some reason wearing a sweatshirt. She nodded offhandedly as I thanked her and waded down the steps.

Getting into a float tube is always a challenge, even more so after a few drinks. After a moment of struggling, I finally got my ass into the hole and started drifting. I relaxed and let my feet dangle into the water.

"This is more like it," I said out loud. I drained the bottle of water in two pulls.

The artificial river circled around most of the other pools, slowly carrying a line of people in its current. It was even easier and better people watching as you didn't even have to move. The course took me under a few gentle water jets that arched over the river, and a few that would get you wet if you steered into them. One section had an artificial waterfall that flowed out of a two story-high rock grotto. I went for it and paddled over, letting the water drench my hot skin.

I squealed as the cold water covered my body, but almost immediately felt wonderful and refreshed. Maybe it wasn't real, but it felt like some of the alcohol haze washed away in the cool stream. I wiped at my eyes and had just paddled back into the main current when someone called me.

"Lily!" said the voice.

It took a split second to line up that Lily was me. I spun around to see my dance pool partner, Jason, laying on his stomach on one of the tubes, paddling toward me.

"Oh hey," I said brightly as he caught up. He reached out and grabbed one of my tube handles.

"I found you," he said with an adorable smile.

"Been looking?"

"Maybe. You just been floating around this whole time?"

"Nah, I had some lunch, found the restrooms," I giggled. "How about you?"

"My buddy is MIA, so I'm just out having fun."

"I'll be your buddy," I blurted out. Okay, still a little drunk.

Jason smiled widely. "Felt like you may have wanted to be a little more than buddies earlier."

I laughed and gazed at him. With our tubes touching, we were very close together, but at an awkward angle.

"Well, it was a fun game, wasn't it?"

Jason lowered his voice, I could barely hear him over the water sounds and far-off music.

"I really enjoyed kissing you."

Gulp.

"I didn't hate it," I said, wondering what my face looked like at that moment.

Jason stretched to lean forward away his tube toward mine, slowly letting his eyelids close.

SPLOOSH!

His tube flipped, immediately dunking him under the water, headfirst. I laughed involuntarily as the splash soaked me again. I wriggled out of my tube when he didn't come up immediately. After some thrashing, he popped up out of the water, sputtering.

"God, I'm such a klutz!" He said, laughing as he wiped water off his face.

His dark brown hair had slicked back against his head and I noticed his strong chest.

"Jeez, are you okay?"

"Just my dignity bruised, I think."

"Well lemme see if I can help with that..."

I waded through the stomach-deep water and crossed the short distance between us. I slowly reached up and took his cheeks in my hands. We slowly leaned in, our cold skin beginning to press together before our lips met. I sighed out as I closed my eyes.

The kiss was much slower, less hurried than our first encounter. I draped my hands over his shoulders, his snaked around my back. We kissed gently for probably twenty seconds before I felt his tongue swipe at mine. I was vaguely aware of other tubes bumping into us and floating by as we stood there in the middle of the river.

I was jolted back to a slightly more sober reality as I felt his swimsuit beginning to bulge against me. Part of me was intrigued and aroused, the other part wanted to dive into the water and torpedo away. For Jason's sake, I was glad I held it together and simply ended the kiss. I slumped my shoulders as our eyes peeled open. His expression wasn't the predatory one I know my own monkey hormones could display, but soft and sweet.

"I think that fixed it," he finally said. "That was really nice of you," he chuckled.

"That's me, nice," I said, not thinking of any way to end this cleverly.

Let him keep his ego intact.

"I promised my friends we'd meet up." I pulled my arms back off him and to my sides.

"Sorry we lost our tubes." Jason leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "But worth it." He turned and slipped down into the water, slowly carried away on the current.

I watched him drift away down the river.

After he was out of sight, I glanced at my shoulders and realized they were starting to get pink. More water, more sunscreen, I thought.

Bobbing down the remainder of the lazy river, I didn't see Jason again. I wondered what kind of footnote I'd be in his vacation story, or if I would even be worth mentioning.

Another resort person in a sweatshirt handed me a towel as I climbed the steps out. I left it wrapped around me as I grabbed another bottle of water from the ice bucket. I began to wander, hoping I could convince someone to borrow some sunscreen. I strolled by the dance pool, the number of pink shoulders and cheeks suggesting this wasn't the place for those kinds of good choices.

Continuing toward one of the hotel towers, I found an area covered with fabric sails stretched overhead. In the shade below, outdoor couches and chairs sat in little grottos and clearings created by tropical bushes and palm trees. I wandered inside and dropped my towel off, already hot again. There next to the bin, as if the universe was looking out for me, was a large pump bottle of sunscreen.

I squirted a generous dollop in my hands and began massaging it into my shoulders. I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to get my back and would incur Lily's wrath if I didn't have some help. My gaze steered away from a few guys at a couch nearby, and to a girl sitting by herself on a chaise lounge, staring at a Kindle.

Immediately struck by how other she looked compared to everyone I'd seen today, I found myself openly gawking at her. Her pixie cut hair was mostly black, but had a streak of bright pink from her part line down to a spiky wave that hung over one side of her face. Her skin was almost porcelain-pale, and her makeup definitely tended toward a dramatic goth kind of look. Black lipstick, black fingernails, tasteful piercings in all the common body parts I could see.

Even her swimsuit was in on the look. The asymmetrical one-piece was black of course, a cutout in the middle showing her navel and one entire side of stomach and hip. The cups covering her small breasts were held up by a spider web of narrow straps circling behind her neck.

I'd been so enthralled that I didn't notice her drop the eReader down a bit to look over it toward me.

"Like what you see?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Her voice had a reasonable dose of British accent that caught me off guard even more.

"Uh-- I was just wondering if you could help me with some sunscreen?"

She grinned and put the reader down.

Good save.

"Sure," she said, getting up. "I'm Emma."

"Lily," I said warmly. I wasn't sure which side of my split-brain it came from, but I answered her question. "You are adorable, since you asked. In a badass, vampire hunter kind of way."

Emma smiled. "Thanks. I could never pull off the beach goddess vibe you have, so it's this. I like your belly bar."

"Thanks. I love your hair." She flashed me an exasperated look. "Don't worry, mine's fake too."

She laughed and finally uncrossed her arms. "Go lay on my chair and I'll get your back."

I stretched out while the British goth cutie rubbed lotion into my shoulders, then down my back. She deftly untied the back of my bikini top, rubbed underneath, and re-tied it before moving down further south. She stopped before getting into thong zone, but just.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver," I said, sitting up to let the lotion dry. "Want me to do you?"

"Oh, I'm good, I have like SPF ten thousand on already. I'll probably hang out in here all day out of the sun anyway."

"This not your thing, huh?"

"Not especially. But I am fond of being warm and outside at the same time."

I laughed. "Yeah, colder at home for me too. This isn't really my scene either. I mean, I'm having fun and all, but it's just so..."

"Yeah," said Emma with a nod. "Seems like most people here just wanna look hot, get drunk, and bonk."

"Yeah," I said quietly.

"Said with respect," she continued, "you certainly look the part though, you're very beautiful."

"Thanks, you too."

The silence stretched out for a few moments as we sat next to each other on the chaise. We chatted for a few minutes, the topical things about university, friends, where we lived. She was studying accounting, which made me giggle a bit as I tried to imagine her sitting an an office.

"So, Lily... you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

I took a deep breath and sighed it out. Half of me was ready to spit out a 'No', which was technically the truth, but the state I'd found myself in seemed a bit more 'Other'.

"It's complicated."

Emma chuckled. "It really is, isn't it?"

I laughed brightly. We shared a smile, her black-tinted lips stretching toward her ears.

Like there was some kind of new gravity involved, we leaned toward each other. Emma's darkly-shadowed eyes drooped and I followed suit.

Our lips barely brushed as my vision winked out. Neither of us moved our hands or arms, simply tilting our heads enough to get delicately full contact where it mattered. I felt her lip ring against my skin, then tasted the same watermelon-flavored drink from the pink cup.

My jumbled thoughts swirled yet again as I felt her hand on my leg. It didn't roam or push like a guy might, it was simply another point of connection. My skin warmed under her touch as we slowly made out.

It could have been a minute or five when we finally separated. I slowly opened my eyes to see hers staring back at me. No expectations or ravenous need underneath, just warmth.

"Not sure why I did that, but it was lovely," said Emma after a moment.

I reached up to touch my lip, not especially caring if a bit of black had rubbed off on my bright red.

"It was nice," I said genuinely. "I uh, should probably be going. My bonk-everyone friends are probably wondering where I am."

"It was nice to meet you, Lily," she said, leaning back in the chaise and picking up the Kindle again. "I'll probably be planted here most of the week if you ever want to talk or, whatever..."

The grin on her face made my stomach flutter.

"Thanks," I said, not wanting to complicate it more than that. "And again for the sunscreen," I added before turning away.

I walked out of the quietly chill area, feeling better than I had in a few hours.

Lily's right. Just have fun, meet people, do stupid shit, right?

A small but insistent part of my brain weighed in.

You're on vacation, dummy, have another drink.

After securing another beverage, I found a group of people playing some kind of frisbee game on the lawn near the beach. It wasn't at all organized, but everyone was having fun and nobody seemed to care about rules or points.

I jumped in a tossed a few times, but found anything that made my chest shake was a bit iffy. After deciding frisbee was way too physical an activity for my current attire, I moved on. I found another area in the shade that had been set up with bar games. I was deep into a foosball match, handily beating an obvious frat bro when I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. I ignored them long enough to slap in another goal before turning around. Lily stood there, grinning widely behind me.

"Well hi there, gorgeous!" she said, before leaning in for a deep, penetrating kiss.

Uh... okay?

My entire body relaxed as she held me. In a split second, every strange emotion, every competitive urge from the last twenty-four hours evaporated.

Just as quick, she gave my nearly-naked ass a slap and pulled away. My mouth registered that she didn't taste like fruit, but what I was pretty sure was straight whisky.

"We heard they're getting jet skis out," she said excitedly, "gonna go be first in line."

I would have gone with her if she'd asked, but she didn't.

She glanced back at me, then the foosball table.

"Finish him!" She said in an exaggerated voice before walking off.

Bye.

"That your boyfriend?" said the guy opposite me.

I just sneered back and twisted my midfield line to score the final goal. I turned without waiting for someone to yell 'I got winner!' and left.

My next fruity beverage turned into two, I think. The late afternoon sun had dropped below the hotel tower to the west giving the whole club some much appreciated shade. Every pool and concrete surface still radiated heat though, keeping people coming back to the numerous bars for refreshment. I found a burger at some point, wolfing it down like I hadn't eaten in days.

When my brain did peek out to think, I'd slipped into some kind of horny limbo land. The constant barrage of beautiful flesh added to the temptation equation. I could still actively feel both sets of hormones running through my body, which made everything all the more confusing. Like candy, I ate up the view of every muscular chest, nice ass, or set of beautiful tits I saw, but they somehow felt like the empty calories in the spiked fruit juice I was swallowing.

Being a bit ashamed of my baser instincts didn't stop me from getting repeatedly turned on. And as I'd previously given the ladies credit for their biological advantage, people couldn't immediately tell when you had a girl boner.

Sweaty thighs and another wave of lightheadedness suggested a dip in the pool was a good idea. The dance pool was closest, the girl DJ had since been replaced with an enormously fat guy who admittedly played better music.

I stood roughly in the center of the pool, the crowd surrounding me as we grooved to the music. At one point I thought the waves lapping at my skin were somehow connected to the bass line. I was futilely trying to work out the engineering behind the subwoofers and the interaction with water when someone bumped into me.

I turned to see an Adonis of a man, somehow sculpted from stone yet still here walking around in the pool. He glanced at my chest, my tits swaying in time with my gyrations. As we locked eyes, the horny and treacherous part of my mind offered the images of every arousing moment I'd had today. Surrendering to what logic there was, I sidled up and pressed my chest into his.

He kissed me, slowly at first, but then with increasing intensity. I took his lower lip in my teeth and gently tugged before shoving my tongue back in his mouth. Part of me flagged a brief protest when his large hand worked its way up my side to my breast, but the objection quickly faded. He squeezed my flesh, then slipped his fingers under my suit.

I simultaneously wanted to both run away, and jump into his arms so he could have his way with me. The shrinking first part felt used, almost violated in that he was touching me in front of everyone, in the middle of a strange place. The other part however felt powerful. Strong. Not only was I beautiful and desired, I could walk up to a perfect, godlike stranger and take what I wanted.

He gave my nipple a few pleasurable tweaks before slipping his hand out from my minuscule bikini. I broke the kiss and flashed him a sultry smile, such as I could muster. His deep sigh made the hair on my neck stand up as I forced myself to turn around and start wading away.

We didn't even say any words.

The two parts of my mind warred as I made my way to the pool stairs. As the pit in my stomach began to confirm, the first part was winning. I was drunk, horny, and probably not making good decisions. I flashed to a thought of Lily in her current form, wondering if she was somewhere nearby doing the same. The image of her and Candy sucking face in the pool tipped the scales toward 'Yes'.

Is this really what she wanted? We don't know these people... but God, it feels good.

I chewed on my lip as I climbed the steps out of the water.

I need to go home.

I wandered roughly in the direction of the lawn and the beach I'd have to trek across to get back to our house. I grabbed a water from a table, feeling a bit of satisfaction from making an even minorly good decision.

The beach sand was still warm on my feet as I left the club. The beefy guy at the gate asked if I wanted my hand stamp freshened up, I just waved him off and trudged ahead. The walk back seemed to take much longer than it had this morning, and I realized I'd left my cover-up... somewhere.

Glancing between two similar gates, I picked the one I was pretty sure led to our house. The familiar pool area confirmed yet another good decision and I walked in. I got a few steps in and turned around, remembering I hadn't shut the gate behind me. Lily stood there, an unreadable expression on her face.

I cocked my head as I looked at her. "Were you right behind me?"

"Yeah," she said quietly. She held up a hand, my cover-up wadded in it.

I took the few steps to take it from her.

"You looked a little wasted, I just wanted to make sure you didn't get into trouble."

Wham, right in the feels.

My head felt like it was going to explode with the swirl of conflicting emotions, images, and experiences from the last twenty-four hours. An angry rumble in my stomach suggested I had other things to worry about. I knew the expression on my face turned as I stared at her, but I didn't have time to explain.

"Thanks," I said more curtly than I meant. My guts said I should hurry.

Not having time to wait for a response, I turned and ran into the house, finding the bathroom off the kitchen mercifully unoccupied. I barely made it to the toilet as the formerly rainbow-hued liquids came out in a disgusting, monochromatic tidal wave.

The cold tile floor of the small room was my home for a good twenty minutes. I alternately exorcised the party demons into their porcelain prison, or just sat with my back and head against the wall.

The unpleasantness eventually stopped, and I felt remarkably better. My head felt clearer, if not less confused with my current place in life. I looked in the mirror and was immediately not okay with my swimsuit, the tiny bits of fabric leaving me exposed and raw. I pulled the cover-up on over it and knotted the tie around my waist.

I found a bottle of Gatorade in the fridge and eagerly downed half of it in a single pull. The cold air wafting out felt like it was somehow breathing life back into me. I stumbled back out to the pool and sat on the edge. I dangled my feet in, the cool water feeling like a helpful anchor of sorts.

A few others came in through the beach gate, milling around the outdoor space, coming and going from the house. I just stared blankly at the blue water and let it calm my thoughts.

I finally jarred back to reality when the evening lights in the pool came on. I'd somehow completely disconnected from my surroundings in however long I'd sat there. Low music was now playing from the sound system and the mood lighting surrounding the patio was bathing the whole area in a warm glow. Half a dozen people were out with me, quietly talking or lounging in the chaises surrounding the pool.

Aiden and Sara were in my line of sight, propped up on their elbows in adjacent lounge chairs. I could see the smiles they gave each other following a stray touch on an arm or shoulder.

I guess it's okay to be spontaneous and make... friends, I thought wistfully.

Downing the last of my Gatorade, I went back to staring into the pool.

Over the next half hour, everyone had come back from the party and were congregating outside. The vibe was far less rowdy than the night before. I turned to see the staff bringing out food, which didn't seem appetizing. One of them had a few curious small bowls that he placed on a handful of end tables around the pool and between chairs. I glanced at the nearest one, seeing the square foil packets piled up inside, their raised circular contents obvious. I went back to zoning out.

"You go too hard today, babe?" said a voice behind me. Dean put a hand on my shoulder and sat down, still wearing just his swimsuit.

"Maybe a bit," I said honestly. "But I feel a lot better now."

"Gatorade," he grinned, seeing the bottle, "elixir of the survivor."

I chuckled involuntarily at his comment. "Thanks again for the invitation, this place really is amazing. You have a good time at the club?"

"Oh, no problem at all. I had a fantastic time today, the Pearl was even more off the hook than last year."

"Nice," I said without much conviction. "So what do you do the rest of the week?" I asked.

"Whatever the hell we want," said Dean with a shit-eating grin.

"Sounds good to me," I attempted to mirror his smile.

You know what, he's right. I deserve to have a fun week before track and more studying and tests.

My brain repeated all the advice and decisions I'd already made.

Have experiences, live life, do stupid things.

We chatted, legs dangling in the pool for a while. When not surrounded by other guys, Dean was remarkably articulate, especially considering the amount of booze he'd probably consumed today. In all our gym time, he'd never told me that he would graduate the next year with double majors in law and engineering. I began to get a bit infatuated as I stared at his chiseled face and deep, expressive eyes.

"You and Theo are really cool," he said in a lull in the conversation. "I'm glad he invited you."

"Thanks," I said, grinning and glancing back down to the water.

"I mean so many people are hung up on finding someone so early, getting that soulmate merit badge before they even know what they want. It's awesome that you guys are so open."

The word stuck in my brain and I tried not to react. Somehow, I knew he was being specific rather than abstract. I lifted my gaze across the pool to a couch facing us. Candy was firmly in someone's lap, and they were gently kissing. The legs jutting out from under her were clearly mine.

Don't react, be cool.

"Yeah," I said, willing the warble out of my voice. "You gotta experiment and figure out what you want, right?"

"Totally," he said. "I mean, I've been with some really great girls, but who knows who you should be with at... what, how old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Fuck..." he said in a low voice.

I glanced at Lily and Candy again, trying not to be obvious. They hadn't come up for air. I tried to casually look elsewhere.

Aiden had crawled onto the chaise with Sara and was between her legs as she lay on her back. I couldn't quite tell, but it appeared his face was planted between her now-bare tits.

"Do it like they do on the Discovery Channel," Dean sang in a surprisingly good tune as we watched them.

I chuckled and shook my head. Looking around the pool area, several other couples were in similar states. In the following minutes, a few had stood and walked inside, the guys rather obviously adjusting their shorts. When my head came back around, Dean had leaned in closer.

"Looks like we're the last two," he said quietly.

You know what... fuck it.

I surrendered to the gravity and kissed him. Our lips pressed together and he took my cheeks in his surprisingly gentle hands. My body relaxed and tensed at the same time as we began to make out properly.

This is my gym buddy, a small part of my brain offered. Who looks like a Greek God and is making me feel so good... the rest of me stipulated.

After a few moments he got brave and began to move his hands down my neck and over my collarbones. He gently pushed at the opening to my coverup, the tension unraveling the tie I'd put in the strap. My body began to betray me as his hands worked their way under the cups of my bikini, flipping it upward as my breasts popped out. I moaned softly, feeling the air against my hardening nipples.

"Jesus, you're beautiful," he said, cupping a hand under each of my mounds.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back. Dean leaned down and took one of my tits between his lips, sucking an entire mouthful of my flesh inside before nibbling at my sensitive nub. I could feel the insistent heat growing between my legs.

The sensations sweeping my body quickly pushed me further. I felt his finger between my legs, then inside me. I forced my eyes open, but he was gone. I glanced around to see him headed for one of the condom bowls, his erection tenting the tight shorts away from his body. I'd almost hopped up from my place at the side of the pool when I glanced back to the couch.

Candy was on the couch on her knees, her eyes wild and focused on the space below her. Her bare, perky tits were swaying on her chest, the motion from her hips was obvious. I let my eyes trail down to see my own body there, laying prone as Candy continued to gyrate.

Lily finally sat up, her strong arms splayed out behind her. Candy was thrusting even harder now. I watched as Lily leaned forward and took a tit in her mouth, eagerly groping the other with a free hand.

My eyes wandered back to see Dean standing in the shallow part of the pool in front of me, his suit pulled down to allow his hard cock to spring free. He tore the condom in his wrapper with his teeth and rolled it on to his tool.

"This is okay, right?" He waited there patiently, cock level with my legs and pointing directly at me.

I looked up again to the couch across the pool. Lily's head had lolled back and Candy was bucking like a crazy woman.

Glancing downward past my bare tits, I slowly spread my legs and nodded. I watched my hand move between them, my finger pulling aside the tiny strip of my thong. Dean's cock was there in an instant, rubbing up and down my slit.

As soon as his swollen head opened me, my inhibitions faded and winked out. My gash took him in easily, the familiar sensation shutting down all other reason and logic. After a few thrusts, I wrapped my legs around his back. I pulled him close and pressed my chest against his as he started to fuck me.

I felt like only a minute had passed when I opened my eyes to see Dean's chiseled, handsome face, the contortions of the ultimate pleasure beginning to form in his eyes. His hips began to spasm and I knew he was cumming. I'd hoped a good cum would help my mood and brewing hangover, but apparently he was unconcerned about my satisfaction.

Dean took a few victory strokes and I released my legs from around his back.

"Damn," he said with a satisfied smile. "Glad I got to pick last."

I tried to mask the irritation hiding behind my face. I half expected him to offer me a high five.

"Jeez, well now I'm tired," he said, stretching.

Without another word, he waded away toward the stairs. I watched him slosh out of the pool, semi-flaccid cock wagging in front of him as he strolled inside. I pulled my bikini, what there was of it, back over my exposed chest.

I shook my head and let my thoughts run wherever they were going to go. I knew I was still a little drunk and was now glad for it. I thought about the future, wondering if the next years of my life were going to be like this. Drunken parties, unemotional and unsatisfying sex. I heard my mom's advice and reasoned that if it got me to happiness, it would be worth it.

The smooth pool water below me rippled outward against my spread legs and I realized the droplet had come from my eyes. I wasn't bawling or anything, I was just... here.

I took three calming breaths and let them out before raising my head. The previously occupied chaise was empty. Aiden and Sara had either done the deed, or were taking care of it in their room. I glanced around the pool area and didn't see another soul.

The couch across the pool was empty too.

I stood, my legs wobbly from sitting there so long on the concrete.

I stretched and looked toward the ocean. The noise of the waves lapping at the beach in the moonlight was calming, and it drew me toward the sand. Maybe a slow walk before bed would help me out of the strange place I'd found myself.

I stopped short of the gate, hearing a quiet, repeating sound like a sniffle. I turned to see a large chair facing the railing and away from the pool. Hunkered down in the cushions, hugging her knees to her chest and quietly crying, was Lily.

If I was in a weird head space before, the next few seconds were like getting my brain rewired with a power drill. The immediate dissonance was seeing my body, me, alone and crying. Utterly vulnerable. Despite the obviously female hormones that had been paying zero rent in my head all day, I immediately felt overly, almost dangerously protective. A small part of my current psyche had a glimmer of everything she was feeling, what she was going through, but Theo was gonna fix this-- the right way, without judgement or petty competition or verbal jousting.

"Lily?" I said sweetly, not moving to get any closer to her.

She startled and turned toward me, her puffy, red eyes not hiding her state. As soon as we locked our gaze, I knew we'd just had the same experience. We were out of control, we'd gone too far.

"Hi," she said with a gulp, wiping at her eyes. "Theo, I..." she trailed off.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I know."

"I saw you too."

"Okay," I answered with a subtle nod, feeling my throat tighten.

I let my instincts take over and reached for her hand to pull her up. As if we were back in our own bodies, I plopped into the chair and patted my lap.

She collapsed into me, the sobs beginning anew as I held her much larger form. I took some measured breaths to keep myself from following her.

We sat there for a few minutes in silence, just listening to the waves. Her head against my chest, I began to feel her breaths calming. She squeezed me gently with the arm she'd wrapped around my back.

"Theo?" she croaked out, her voice rather more feminine than usual.

"Yeah?"

"I wanna switch back now."

My hand under her chin, I raised her face up to look at me. There was no lust in her eyes, no usual playful twinkle. This was about getting back to a good place, a less vulnerable place, somewhere safe.

I understood and nodded. She slid off me but didn't let go of my hand. We walked silently past the pool and into the house. I led her up the stairs to our room and locked the door behind us.

"Wanna get clean first?" I asked. "Doesn't have to be together."

"Together," she said quietly, nodding back.

We stripped and padded into the enormous walk in shower. As the water heated, we stood under the stream together and just stood there, holding each other. Even though I was in her smaller, softer body, it still felt like I was somehow trying to support her, to shield her from the world. With my head on her shoulder, we simply let the water cascade over us.

I inhaled and savored her scent, a mix of chlorine and sunscreen, and my cologne that somehow smelled better when she wore it. I squeezed the arms I'd wrapped around her chest, she squeezed back.

We finally took a few minutes and washed. The sand in my hair, the salty deposits on her cheeks, and hopefully some of the things we'd rather forget... cascaded down our borrowed bodies and away.

After we'd scrubbed and rinsed, I opened my arms again. Lily leaned into them. I sighed as our chests pressed together and she gently kissed the top of my head. She turned her body just a bit and reached a hand up to my chest. Her fingers gently cupped under my breast. There was nothing sexual about her touch, just an affection, a closeness. I used the opportunity to rest a hand on her chest, completing some kind of loop.

A few moments of calming togetherness passed. She'd apparently decided things were improving and gave my breast a gentle squeeze. We separated enough to look at each other, then shared a nod. I turned off the water and we dried off. She led me by the hand out into the room, stopping at the foot of the bed. The look in her eyes was still tentative, almost scared.

"Separate, or together?" I asked. She stood stone-still for a moment before answering.

"Together."

I nodded. "Want me to be on top?" I asked, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah."

Lily sat down and scooted back on the bed, propping her back up on the stack of pillows. I followed after a moment, crawling toward her on my hands and knees. I gently sat on her thighs as we stared at each other.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you?" I asked. She nodded.

I leaned forward and lightly brushed my lips against hers. The familiar electricity made my skin tingle, somehow different and infinitely better than the other unfamiliar pairs of lips I'd touched today. Lily wrapped her hands around me and pulled our bodies together. There was nothing urgent about our slow contact. I let my hips down and sat on her taut stomach.

Eventually, biology asserted itself, adding more to what felt like a kind of reunion. I felt Lily's hardness pushing against my leg, then smooth rear. I broke the kiss and opened my eyes to look at her. Again, she only nodded.

I reached behind me and wrapped my fingers around her hard shaft. With a slight lift of my hips, I pushed back until I felt her head at my opening. I sighed and closed my eyes as I worked it up and down the length of my slit. Not realizing how wet I was already, she slipped in without resistance. Slowly, I pushed more, inches of her disappearing inside me. Just the feeling of this few seconds of contact was more satisfying than every other stupid thing I'd done today.

When I finally sat down all the way, my thighs resting on hers, I was halfway to feeling like we were coming back from ruin. I sat there still for a minute, just relishing the fullness, the wonderful pressure of feeling of her body below and inside me.

I started moving my hips in little circles. The delicious friction pushed and pulled at my insides, my nerves beginning to awaken with arousal. My breathing began to synchronize with my gyrations. I finally opened my eyes and gazed at her.

Oh no...

The look on her face wasn't one of pleasure, or even contentment. Her eyes telegraphed something else I couldn't reconcile with what we were doing.

She's only doing this to get switched back. This is my fault. I took her insecurity and made it into a stupid competition that's gonna end like all of our other battles. Nobody wins.

I slowed my hips and finally stopped. Tears had begun to roll down her cheeks.

"Lily, what is it?" I asked, hearing the growing distress in my own voice probably making it worse.

"Theo," she said between gentle sobs, "I came inside her. I..." she trailed off and wiped at her eyes.

A part of me was about to ask about the bowls of condoms spread around the pool, but I intuited the answer. I let out a deep breath and dropped back down to her, chests pressed together. She didn't wrap her arms over me.

"We're here now, just you and me." I snaked my hands under her back and held her tight. After a moment, she finally did the same. For a moment, I tried to ignore the delicious sensation still between my legs. We shared a sigh and she stopped crying. I shifted my hips tentatively, feeling her hardness. A different noise, a better noise finally escaped her.

I began again, slowly rocking my hips as I straddled her. Her body began to respond, a tiny movement to meet me, or a noise from her lips closer to what I'd remembered this activity sounding like.

Eventually, I sat up and gazed down at her. Lily's hard pecs were moving in time with her breathing and her face at least wasn't betraying any sadness underneath. My hips seemed to become more enthusiastic on their own. Despite not knowing where we were, what this was leading to, I couldn't ignore the pleasure her body was giving me.

I put my hands on her chest and stared into her eyes. The often mischievous, deeply observant and knowing way she looked at the world, the twinkle... was back. It might have been a bit below the surface, but it was there.

As I began to feel the first twinges spreading through my body, something changed. Both other times we'd switched for longer than a few days, there was a moment when I stopped seeing my own face when I looked at her. It wasn't Lily in my body, it was just her. I wondered briefly if she was experiencing something similar. I'd blown past that stage hours ago.

My introspection tapered off as I felt the building storm. I moved my hips higher away from her before dropping back down. Every few thrusts she was lifting her body to meet me, to drive up inside.

We locked eyes again and wordlessly communicated.

Almost there.

I began to buck, feeling the oncoming tide of my climax. Neither of us had touched my sensitive button, and still, I was about to cum. The needy, animal look on her face confirmed she was there too. Knowing we were about to surrender to the temporary blackness, I fell down onto her body again.

Lily took over as my orgasm began. My legs splayed out on either side of her, she pumped upward with her hips, lifting us both off the bed and pushing deep into my willing body with each thrust. Her unrestrained moan accompanied the first spurt from her hard cock. I tried to concentrate on the delicious warmth blooming deep inside me, but my climax quickly transported me to another place. I couldn't sense the blackness that certainly would have blurred my vision, my eyes shut tightly close as she emptied her seed into me.

I felt only heat and sweat and the immense pleasure that only comes from being so completely connected to another person. Then, I faded out.

I was already on my back when I came to. I felt half asleep still, like I had been woken too early from a good nap. I turned my head and saw her next to me, her eyes were closed. I brushed her hand with mine, but got no response. Ready to sit up and rouse her, I could barely lift my head. Sleep overtook my confused thoughts, all of them roughly aligning on...

What happens now?

* * *

I woke with a start, like when your alarm goes off when you're dead asleep. My eyes peeled open and adjusted to the dim light, the sun wasn't even up yet. I yawned and felt my firm morning reminder that I was in my own body... a guy again.

My brain peppered me with thoughts and images and things that needed answers, all of them centered around the person lying next to me. As if I'd been struck by a lightning bolt of clarity, I knew exactly what I wanted. I didn't care if a long distance relationship was difficult, or that Lily might end up being a surrogate mother to her little sister. No amount of partying or casual hookups even touched what we'd given up.

I turned and saw only wrinkled sheets.

Hoping out of bed, I padded into the bathroom hoping to find her there. Nope. Mild panic set in, wondering if she was trying to hitchhike to the airport or anything similarly extreme. We hadn't left anything settled or definite last night and I hoped she wasn't in a bad place. I emptied my insistent bladder and went over to the wall of windows.

Maybe she went for an early swim.

I scanned the area far below and sighed in relief. Lily was just about to the beach gate, hair in a ponytail and wearing sports bra with thin shorts.

She's going for a run.

My next reaction was that we needed to talk, to figure out where we were supposed to go from here. I knew in the core of my being that the answer was together. We needed to sort this out, whatever that meant. Despite my grogginess, the growing sense of urgency wouldn't let me wait. I hauled the large glass door open and yelled her name, but she'd already gone. My brain had me moving before I realized it.

"You got this," I said out loud. I jogged toward the door, scooping up the gray Speedos she'd discarded on the way to the shower the night before. No time for even a shirt, and I didn't want shoes anyway. The scant briefs were still damp, but they covered me enough to be in public, at least in Daytona Beach. The still-sleepy part of my brain told me to wait until she got back, but I simply couldn't.

We need to talk, right now.

Trotting down the stairs, I broke into a jog in the living room, my bare feet slapping loudly against the cool tile. The wide opening to the pool was already open. I was at a full run by the time I vaulted the gate without bothering to undo the latch.

I skidded to a halt in the middle of the sand, stopping to glance up and down the beach. She'd turned southward, away from The Pearl and was probably already a quarter mile away. My jog broke into a run, the sand squishing between my toes. I pushed a little harder, feeling my well-tuned running muscles react differently to the uneven and shifting surface below. Correcting my course closer to the surf, I found the wet sand was much better surface for speed.

Faster.

After a hard ninety seconds of near-sprint effort, I was only a football field behind her.

"Lily!" I shouted. The crashing waves doused my voice.

Gotta catch her.

I pushed out some more speed, willing my legs to move faster. The stupid wet swimsuit was starting to chafe between my legs, and I had already begun to hate sand.

Almost there.

I called out again, the hands cupped around my mouth amplifying my hoarse voice. Lily's swaying ponytail jerked around and she slowed to look over her shoulder.

I stumbled but managed to stay upright as the gap between us closed.

She turned around and flashed me a half-amused grin.

"What are you doing out here?" she called.

"Oh, you know," I panted, finally reaching where she'd stopped, "just wanted to get a jumpstart on conditioning for track season. Little beach run, right?"

"In that?" She nodded at the tiny amount of fabric covering my junk and rear end.

"Fine, I was trying to catch you."

"I see."

The sound of the waves filled in the extended pause while I caught my breath.

"Lily, can we please talk?"

"Do we need to?"

"Dammit yes, we need to!" It came out rougher than I'd meant.

"Alright," she said evenly, not mirroring my outburst. "Walk with me?"

I inhaled and released a few deep breaths and nodded. We started off down the beach again. I strolled on the downhill side of her, and we were more or less eye to eye when we glanced to look at each other.

"So what do you want to talk about?" she asked calmly.

"Us--" I croaked out, beginning to realize I was already getting more emotional than I wanted to be.

Lily stopped walking and she studied me for a moment. She glanced up away from the water and nodded toward a large chunk of driftwood. I followed her to it and sat on the makeshift bench. The orange glow from the sunrise had begun to paint the sky.

She breathed deeply in and out, starting and stopping silent words a few times before she finally spoke.

"Theo, I love you."

The words stabbed into my guts, but I let them sink in. I quickly realized there was probably a giant but coming.

"I just didn't want to take this away from you."

I cocked my head quizzically and stared at her.

You're taking it away from me right now! My brain screamed, thinking she was talking about her.

"This crazy, stupid, college stuff..." she continued, "going to parties and making out and sleeping around... I know it's what people do."

Every stupid thing I'd allowed to happen in the last few months, everything I had done... flashed in front of my eyes.

"Do you think that's what I want?" I said, my voice dropping to just more than a hoarse whisper.

Lily shrugged, just barely moving her shoulders. "I just figured you're eighteen, a cute guy who's obviously taking care of himself," she added. "You seem to be enjoying life without me. No judgement," she added quickly.

The noise of the surf again both filled in and punctuated the silence. I realized I was gripping my knees so hard that I was leaving marks. I forced myself to relax my hands and keep my chin from starting to shake. I came to the realization that seemed so obvious now.

Lily made the most mature decision she could. Her mom is probably going to die. She wanted me to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. She couldn't be there with me, so... she gave me an out.

And I took it.

The thought sunk in and my throat started to tighten.

"So what about you?" the competitive part of my brain countered without me really asking it to. "You dyed your hair, put an extra hole in your stomach. Jake Dog... kinda seems like you wanna spread your wings a little too."

What are you doing, asshole?

She arched an eyebrow at me, but grinned.

"And let you corner the market on doing stupid shit? No way."

I sputtered and laughed at her retort.

"And I like the belly bar, thank you very much," she tutted.

"Me too," I said genuinely. "It's really cute."

"But the blonde..." she added quietly, "I think that was for you."

Aurora.

I chewed on my lip and pushed my glib inner dickhead back down and away.

"I like your real hair color," I said. "I hope you grow it out again."

The silence grew as neither of us could directly poke at the elephant in the room, or on the beach in this case. Even through our increasingly soul-bearing conversation, we were still competing, waiting for the other person to crack.

I need to be the one to give.

"Lily..." I said, my lower lip starting to shake. "I don't want this. I don't want random hookups."

We stared at each other in silence for a beat.

"Me either," she croaked out. "But with my mom, and Dad, and Zoey... I just don't know if I can be enough for you."

It was as if someone had pulled a giant splinter from my skin, all the pressure and pain just oozing out of my body. I finally exhaled the lungful of air I'd been holding. It seemed so simple now.

"I don't care if we're hours apart. We can FaceTime and I can come home on long weekends, and now that Zoey has her license she can maybe help out with your mom and --"

"But..." she cut my rambling short.

No buts! What buts can there possibly be left?

"Theo, I don't know what's gonna happen. What if it's..." she gulped, "the worst, and I need to take care of Zoey? What if I can never come back to Oakmont?"

"I don't care!" I nearly yelled, immediately regretting the anger in my voice.

I could see it in her eyes, she didn't truly want to be apart any more than I did.

How do I just get her to see?

"Even after I did this to us?" she said, her voice now straining. "Forcing you away to be with other people... I'm a fucking wreck, Theo. You don't deserve this much crazy."

My shoulders slumped and I shook my head.

"Lily Whitlock, whatever happens with any of this, you are my brand of crazy."

I tried to force a grin, her face hardened and I shrank back away.

"That's a platitude," she said darkly. "You can't tell me our stupid sniping and competing at everything doesn't drive you nuts sometimes. How is that healthy?"

She's still trying to push me away, still trying to protect me.

In the span of seconds, my brain recounted years of memories, and more recently, some sage motherly advice.

"Lily," I said, turning my hand to interlace our fingers. "Since I was little, I mean we were little, you've always been there. And God, yes... sometimes I wanted to kill you. You could never just let me win without throwing a fit or getting even."

My eyes started to tear again as I stared at her, I didn't try and hold them back now.

"But after all that time, I know now that everything we got into, every stupid race and finish line, you were making me better." I was embarrassed at how small my voice sounded.

I studied her expression, hoping what I saw was a tiny crack in the defenses she'd put up. The expectant look on her face suggested maybe she was considering it.

"I need you to keep working on me." I gulped and swallowed hard. "I need you. I don't want anyone else." I felt the tears dripping onto my exposed thighs.

Her mouth was beginning to sag open. I couldn't tell if she was about to cry or tell me off.

This isn't about me, this isn't about me, I chanted inwardly.

"Lily," I said, trying to will away the pitiful tone in my voice, "you don't have to do everything yourself. We are so much fucking better as a team. Please don't push me away."

I lost it, the tears now freely flowing as I ugly cried. The water in my eyes made it harder to focus on her, but I thought I saw her lip shaking.

The last of her wall finally crumbled and she lunged at me. We cried quietly together, holding each other on that piece of driftwood. Like our shower the night before, it felt like the wrongs and hurts were washing away. Her perhaps toxic pride, my easy surrender in letting go what I knew I wanted... everything was splashing away in tiny drops of saltwater onto the sand.

After a few moments we pulled apart to wipe at moist eyes and snotty noses.

When we locked eyes again, Lily's arms wrapped almost violently around my torso. The force of her embrace caught me off guard and I fell backward, taking her with me as we toppled to the ground. A cathartic blend of laughing and crying overtook us as we lay there, legs still on the log while we gazed into the glowing pink sky.

We didn't speak for a few minutes as we simply basked in us, something we'd had, given up, and nearly thrown away. It was probably the blend of endorphins and chemicals now coursing through me, but I got the sense that things between us were new and different now, and they were better.

I finally became aware of the cold sand sticking to my back. I shivered in my swimsuit and tried to rock myself upright. Struggling to pull my legs off the log, I turned around and planted my knees. I took her hands and helped her up. The look on her beautiful, flushed face was back to a hundred percent Lily.

"So we're gonna do this, no matter what?" she asked.

"No. Matter. What."

I willed myself to not start sobbing again.

We took a minute to let the tears stop and regain our composure.

"So you really want me to make you -- make us better, huh?" she finally said with a hint of her trademark mischievous grin.

I nodded slowly.

"Alright, first 'making us better' challenge..."

I grinned at her expectantly.

"I don't think we should drink so much," she said in a low voice like the information was top secret.

"That's an amazing idea!" I said, feigning excitement. "If only our parents and all our teachers since, like, the seventh grade had told us!"

Lily laughed brightly. "I know, right? I think it makes us behave badly," she added seriously.

"Well, not no drinking... I mean, it is Spring Break after all."

"Fine, not no drinking. Maybe just a little drinking. Oh, and mister make-me-better-Lily, we are going to do some conditioning while we're here. You have track starting next week."

"Didn't we just run?"

"You were chasing me, that wasn't running to run, per se."

Her blossoming smile nearly melted me.

"Well alright then," she continued, "let's jog back to the house. You gonna be okay in that silly thing?" She stuck her finger in the strap of my swimsuit and snapped it against my skin.

"I'll be fine, but you're gonna have to put lotion on my thighs later. They're starting to chafe."

She giggled and punched my shoulder. "Oh, fine, naughty boy..."

Lily sprang up and without waiting for me and began to run back the way we'd come. I jumped up and watched her take off up the beach.

"Aren't you gonna chase me?" she called over her shoulder, blonde hair streaming behind her.

Always.

"It still counts as a run!" I yelled as I began to jog, my feet falling into the footsteps she'd left in the sand.

We got back to the house and let ourselves in through the gate. I trotted to the outdoor shower and stood under the weak stream for a few minutes, trying to wash off as much of the sand as possible. I stepped out and let Lily in, hers would likely take longer with the grit probably having gotten into her sports bra. I dried off on the pool deck and was surprised to see people up and about inside, the sun having only just risen.

Candy strolled out of the house with a small plate of food and mug of coffee. She glanced at me, then to Lily, still trying to hose the sand off.

"Are you guys... patching things up? You two are just adorable, by the way."

I tried to make sure my eyes didn't telegraph the thoughts running through my head. I realized I didn't answer.

Candy's face drooped a little as she looked at me. "Thanks for the pity fuck, by the way. I hope I didn't get you in trouble."

"Pity?" I said, perplexed. My memory of Lily and Candy going at it the night before certainly didn't seem pitiful.

"I didn't have much of a chance to tell you yesterday, but my boyfriend dumped me three days before we were supposed to come here together." She sighed and shook her head. "No way I shoulda come to Daytona angry, sad, and horny. Bad combo..."

"Don't I know it..." I said, cracking a smile.

"And what I really should have told you before things... progressed, is that I got checked out the day before I left, and I'm on birth control. So, you know -- no worries there."

"Thanks," I stuttered. "Good to know."

Candy smiled and gave a shifty glance around the pool, probably seeing Lily still in the shower.

"By the way, you scratched my itch way better than that douchebag ever could." She quickly stepped closer and kissed me lightly. "Lemme know if you ever get tired of that one," she added, glancing over my shoulder before walking off to eat.

I stood there, hoping the revelation we'd just shared hadn't already begun crumbling. I heard heavy footfalls behind me as Lily rounded to face me, still dripping wet. At that moment, she did look a bit murderous.

"Hang on a minute," I preempted, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow as I relayed the details about Candy's rather personal admission to me.

"Oh thank God." The relief washed over Lily's face. "But why did she need to kiss you just then?"

I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Oh baby, that was for you. You rocked her world, apparently."

Lily grinned demurely before responding. "Well of course I did."

* * *

We still had four days of our vacation left. Being together again felt like a painful weight had been finally lifted. The artificial wedge was no longer between us.

I was proud of our good timing, taking care of our personal drama early on in the trip. Almost giddy to be us again, we vowed to make the best of the remaining time.

We did, in fact, run every single morning. We switched to the road one day, but decided the beach was much prettier and the sand had the added benefit of a different kind of muscle workout. I began to regard our early morning outings as my favorite time of vacation day, the hours before most people were up and moving, before the shenanigans started.

Lily and I consummated our newly re-cemented relationship often. We had our own palatial room, a pool, the ocean, and basically spent every waking hour in our swimsuits. It was a cocktail of nearly constant arousal in which we were happy to over-indulge. And lord, did we do it everywhere...

The king size bed facing the ocean was always nice of course, but we also had a walk-in shower, a tub, right on the floor - who knew? - and once bent over a dresser. We even shared a bit of naughty time outside one evening. Someone had figured out how to turn on the outdoor projector to throw a movie onto one side of the house. Most of us were out there, some wading in the pool. Some sat on the comfortable couches and chaises. Lily had plopped into my lap and pulled a dry towel over our legs. It wasn't long before she'd hiked my trunks down and enveloped me. We sat there, moving against each other painfully slowly as we pretended to watch. When I finally blew, half the people turned to look. I flashed an unapologetic shrug.

I got quite a surprise one afternoon while Lily was on her knees, giving me what I judged to be a very nice blowjob in our room. I learned later that she'd earlier been talking with the other girls around the pool about sex... things. Someone convinced her that she 'just had to try this', and boom, I was getting a prostate massage while my girlfriend deep throated me. The orgasm was otherworldly as she worked her finger around in my ass. Rather than the pressure normally confined to my cock, the sensation seemed to radiate through my entire core as I came. I was almost worried I was going to hurt her with the force of the juice shooting out of me.

We did go back to The Pearl a couple days later, Dean had managed to secure more tickets for everyone at the house. At my request, well, begging really, Lily wore the red thong bikini. We had an amazingly similar experience, a slow opening of her coverup, then a little more as she got used to it, finishing with exposing her barely contained body to the entire club. I never left her side, and enjoyed seeing the suit on her way more than when I'd worn it.

We did drink, but were exacting in our consumption to just maintain a perfect, pleasant, vacation buzz. We overshot once after lunch, both thirsty from salty fries as we gulped down the fruity concoction without remembering how much booze they added.

Dean wrangled me and Aiden into a pickup basketball game after I'd sobered up a little. As we played with jocular shouts of 'dude, pass!' and 'nice bucket!', the memory of him sliding into my body on the side of the pool was a bizarre conundrum. He obviously would never know the truth, but I couldn't help stifling a giggle when I looked at him.

Despite our probably slowed motor skills, we beat the other team with points to spare. He appeared to be riding the high of winning and zeroed in on a group of girls who'd been watching us with hungry eyes. Not that I'd wish Dean any ill will, especially since he'd invited us here, but we did get a satisfied chuckle when a girl he'd apparently chosen tossed the contents of a drink in his face. The sticky mess coated his chiseled muscles and he looked like he was deep breathing to stay calm.

"Blue cup... berry coconut," I giggled under my breath. Lily chuckled and pulled on my hand toward the pool.

I spied Candy's unmistakable red hair a bit upstream of us at the lazy river later that afternoon. She was rather attached to another tube, occupied by a head of black hair with a bright pink streak. I watched through my sunglasses as the two girls shared a kiss, but didn't call Lily's attention to it.

Funny how some things work out.

We made regular trips to the boardwalk, thoroughly enjoying just idly strolling together. The people watching was nearly as good as the club, plus there were sno-cones. Both of us having most of a grand in cash left, we took to detouring into little shops and buying whatever caught our eye. Mostly clothes. Lily bought a few crop tops that showed off her new navel piercing, which I enjoyed seeing on her more every time I thought to look down. I bought a couple of tank tops, one that she insisted I get that had 'Sun's out, guns out!' emblazoned on the front.

The last evening of our trip, we strolled the boardwalk as the sun got lower, finally getting some food and ice cream. I tossed our empty dessert containers in a nearby can and glanced up at the next shop. I steeled my resolve and grabbed Lily's hand to stop her.

"Wanna do one more stupid thing?" I gestured toward the neon-lit storefront. Against my prediction, she nodded.

We made our way inside and browsed. Cosmic destiny pointed us to the same thing, which was apparently hilarious to the woman running the shop.

"Should we get some words too, or maybe the date?" Lily asked as we got situated.

"Are you gonna forget this week?" I asked, hoping for a little more subtlety.

"Obviously not," she smiled back.

We walked out ninety minutes later, sporting not-quite-matching tattoos. We'd both chosen a cute two inch-tall palm tree. I got mine on the side of my upper arm, shaded in more-or-less realistic greens and brown. Lily got her leaves in a variegated pink and purple scheme. After some indecision, she chose the outside of her thigh, just below the hip. When I commented that it would be visible just perfectly under a bikini strap, but hidden by pants, the choice was made.

I didn't want any names or bits other than the picture, so of course we compromised and got some. At the tattoo lady's suggestion, she carefully scrawled DB '25 into the texture of one of the palm fronds. You couldn't see the intricate letters unless you were really close, which I hoped meant that only one other person would ever notice.

We left the shop and continued down the path. Each of us still having a bit of cash to blow, we browsed a tourist trap that had covered the outdoor space on both sides of the boardwalk. I figured I could get something cheesy but sweet for my parents, hopefully to soften the blow that I left without telling them.

I looked over a rack of postcards to see Lily on the opposite side of the shop's outdoor area. The scene unfolded faster than I could deal with, so I just let it happen.

Adorable Jason, the guy I'd made out with at the club, had spied her and made a beeline toward the pretty girl that had kissed him. Twice. My asshole brain wanted to watch how it played out, so I ducked behind the postcards to watch.

"Hey, Lily!" He said eagerly, waltzing right up to her.

The look on her face was priceless. Obviously confused, but trying desperately to be cool about it.

"I looked for you all week at The Pearl..." he said wistfully. "I really enjoyed, uh -- hanging out with you."

"Oh, me too..." she gushed appropriately.

He flashed her delighted puppy dog eyes and held out his phone. "Could I, maybe, get your number? I mean I know you're probably headed home soon and we'd never..."

She leaned forward and said something quietly to him, I couldn't hear. They shared an awkward grin and he left. I rounded the postcard rack and sauntered up to her, already back to looking through fridge magnets.

"Sorry," I said, cringing, "that was my fault."

"Cute guy, he was sweet. Don't worry about it."

"Really?" I trailed off, not wanting to push on it. She shrugged and kept browsing.

We bought our trinkets and hit the next souvenir shop, similarly spilling outside with racks and tables of junk. I happened upon a shelf full of local seafood recipe books I knew my mom would love.

As if the universe was in on the competition, I jerked my head up at hearing my name, spoken simultaneously by two voices I didn't recognize.

"Hiya Theo!"

I focused on two girls approaching me from down the boardwalk. Very pretty, vaguely Asian, and the more I stared, very much the same person. One had her hair in a ponytail, the other wore it down. But by the time they got to me, it was obvious they were identical. Even their peachy-pink lipstick matched.

"Well hey there!" I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

"We didn't see you back at the club again," said ponytail.

"I thought we were gonna do some more body shots when you came back," said the other.

I tried to keep my jaw in a normal position and smiled widely.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. One of my buddies was having girl troubles. He really needed my help." I tried to keep a straight face as the words registered.

"Awhhh," said ponytail. "That was really sweet of you. Sucks we have to leave tomorrow, hope you don't forget us."

"Not a chance," I said, channeling some Dean macho.

"K, bye then!" they said together.

The girls got right up in my face and each planted a kiss on my cheek, smiling widely as they waved and turned to leave.

"We'll Snap you some pics!" one of them said before they disappeared into the crowd.

I should have known Lily would be at my shoulder as soon as I regained some measure of composure. I turned to look at her, not at all surprised to see her overly pleased grin.

"Sorry, that was my fault," she parroted. She made a point to flash an amused glance at the probably-perfect lipstick prints on my face.

"Sweet baby Jesus, Lily..." I said slowly. "Twins?"

* * *

Back to school and the last term of my Freshman year, things were good. Great, even.

Adam and Chrissy were elated that Lily and I were back together, but Chrissy was still miffed that she didn't have her roommate. At their request, I regaled them with stories and pictures from our trip, heavily modified and redacted, obviously. They'd had their own fight during Spring Break, but managed to reconcile and spend the remainder of the vacation bonking in our dorm rooms.

A couple of weeks later was my birthday, our birthday. I was disappointed not to spend it together, but was heartened to hear a couple of days before that Lily's mom's treatment was going well. Her oncologist had backed off the number of days a week she had to get chemotherapy, and the mood at their house had lightened considerably.

As I lay in bed that last day of March trying to fall asleep, I couldn't think about anything other than Lily. Knowing I was almost exactly a year from that first morning waking up in her body, the event that brought us together... I wasn't surprised when my phone dinged at precisely midnight, April the First.

The dim photo in her text was obviously her lying in her bed. Not sexy or revealing in any way, just her adorable smile and a look in her eyes that said everything.

Happy Birthday, you, came the message after the photo.

Happy Birthday!

I swiped to take a photo and hoped my tired face looked at least happy.

Miss you, came the reply, followed by another message with emojis that made me giggle.

Mom and dad are taking us to Il Forno Caprese tomorrow. So no (eggplant) (sweat droplets). I wanna stay here, no stealing my birthday dinner.

(lips) (juicy peach) We'd have to do it at the same time, remember?

Well, I bought a new vibrator yesterday, so don't judge me.

I'll keep my monkey hormones down so you can spend time with your new boyfriend.

(laughing with tears smiley)

Love you Lily

(lips) (lips) (lips) goodnight Theo.

My first season of collegiate track was unequivocally amazing. It turned out that our sand runs, at least for the first few weeks of practice, made the actual track feel like I was gliding on rails. The boost bumped a couple of my PRs into school record territory.

I did well at most of the regular season meets, enough to secure a spot at regionals. The meet was two states away, and made for an exciting and climactic end to my Freshman Year.

Lily and my parents road-trip caravanned to watch the meet. I could barely keep it together as they arrived just as the meet started. Knowing they were in the stands watching, it simultaneously made me want to take off just to be with them, and... literally run faster than I ever had before.

I got a silver medal. I felt like I hadn't left anything on the table, and that's what mattered. Oakmont ended up third overall, which our coach gushed was better than they'd done in twenty years. He took us all out for dinner that night, and apparently tipped the harried waitress enough not to check IDs. Lily and my folks were practically beside themselves and were happy to lavish their attention at me.

I didn't mind.

My folks had a hotel and stayed the night, Lily and I got in her car and started the drive back to Oakmont. She'd volunteered to come help me pack up, especially since the meet had made me miss move-out weekend while everyone else had cleared out.

We left after dinner and drove through the night. We took turns sleeping and driving, stopping every now and then for sodas and truck stop restrooms. We arrived early in the morning, just as the sun was rising.

It took the better part of an hour to haul my stuff down to Lily's car. At least with the dorms empty, we didn't have to compete for the elevator. With the trunk stuffed full, we rode up one last time to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.

Stooping down, I checked under our furniture. I gave a sneer to what appeared to be a single dirty sock under Adam's bed.

Not even gonna touch that.

After pulling out each drawer and opening each cabinet, I sighed, knowing we were done and could leave. I stared out the window for a moment, the view I'd become so used to now rather empty of people and activity. I sensed something behind me and turned around. Lily stood in my doorway with a contented grin.

"Well, you did it. Year one in the books. I'm proud of you."

I pulled her close to me. "You have so much more to be proud of... you had the shittiest year ever."

"It wasn't so bad," she said. "Broke up with my boyfriend, got him back."

I laughed. "He sounds like a lucky guy..." I trailed off. "It's wild though, isn't it? I can't believe it went so fast. Seems like just a few weeks ago I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get into college as Lily Whitlock..."

"We could have done it," she said, crossing over to me and wrapping her arms around my stomach. "So I was gonna wait till we got home to tell you, but I have some news."

"What news? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to distract you from your meet."

"Well, it's over. Spill!"

"We got a call from mom's doctor yesterday. They said she's responded well to the treatment and they're gonna stop it."

My eyes went wide, but I could tell she hadn't finished.

"Everything looks like she's headed toward remission." Lily began to blink away tears. "It's like a one in ten chance..." she croaked out.

I felt my own eyes getting wet. "Ohmigod, that's amazing!" My throat started to tighten and I pulled her closer to me. "That's like the best news ever."

"Well that's not everything," she said, giggling through a sob.

"What?"

"When we got the news, I called Oakmont. Took me like two hours on the phone..."

I gently pushed her on her shoulders so I could gaze into her eyes. "What?"

"Mom and dad insisted that everything was gonna be fine at home, so... I re-enrolled. All my credits will transfer, and they even reinstated my athletic scholarship."

My bottom lip shook as I stared at her, the happiness on her face the most beautiful, disarming thing I'd ever seen. I pulled her in for a kiss but then lifted her into the air. We spun in place in the middle of my empty dorm room like there was an orchestra playing just for us.

I finally set her back down and tried to form a complete sentence.

"I'm so happy for you, I can't even..."

We simply stood there holding each other for what felt like an hour, but probably only minutes in reality. Something pulled at my emotions, a desire to move forward and away from the mix of wonderful and terrible things that had happened in the last year. Still, I felt a tug from the place we stood.

"Even though we're coming back next year, we'll probably never be in these rooms again."

"Wasn't too bad for a first dorm, I think I'll kinda miss it," she said, "kinda."

"We had some good times here," I said, arching an eyebrow. I glanced to my side of the room, eyeing the thin mattress. "Wanna give that bed one last workout before we leave?"

"Theo..." she tutted. Lily narrowed her eyebrows and stared at me. "Alright, yeah."

I gently pivoted to wrap my arms around her. For half a minute, I just held her against me. Neither of us had showered, and I was pretty sure the faint body odor was mine, but we didn't care. She tilted her head up to look at me, then let her eyelids droop.

We kissed like it was the first time, slow, almost tentative. The butterflies in my stomach beat their wings as she took my lower lip in her teeth, gently tugging on it before slipping her tongue into my mouth. Our makeout escalated from there and I found myself being slowly but firmly pushed toward my bed.

"Your mattress is gross," she said as we broke the kiss. "Sheets are already packed in the car, right?"

"Uh huh," I grunted, tugging at the waistband of my shorts. They were quickly on the ground. "I'll lay down so you don't have to touch much of it, okay?"

"Such a gentleman," she said, grinning.

I flopped onto the bed, not caring at that point what the unidentified stains might have been. The look she gave me as I lay there staring up at her was like a drug. A mix of lust, love, desire... and complete trust. I knew most people couldn't decipher a facial expression that deeply, but our connection was different than most.

Lily closed and locked the door before pulling down her shorts and panties.

"Underwear," she said, nodding to my still-covered midsection.

I tore them off and flung the offending garment towards hers.

"You're already hard," she said playfully.

"You did the biting my lip thing. You know what that does."

"Maybe..." She covered the step to my bed and jumped up to straddle me.

Lily's heat and wetness quickly made themselves known. I could feel her natural juice as her lips rested against the underside of my cock, now sandwiched between us. She moved her hips just slightly, spreading the warmth up and down more of my shaft. I breathed out as she let a little more weight down.

"Are we leaving shirts on?" I whined, pushing out my bottom lip.

"Oh, fine..." she said, feigning irritation.

She grabbed at the hem of my t-shirt and helped me pull it off as I leaned up and away from the bed. Staring at my now bare torso, a bit more of the lusty twinkle shone through her eyes. I took my turn next, rather less gently tugging her tank top up over her head. A simple white bra was the last thing to go.

I lay flat back down on the bed again, gazing up at her in awe. I was glad she and Zoey had managed to dye her hair back to her natural chestnut brown, my Lily taking over for the Spring Break version. I did pause to admire her taut belly button, now sporting a dark gunmetal ring in place of the bar. My gaze predictably wandered up to her perfect breasts, still striped with a faint tan line from the red bikini.

I'm glad a bit of Daytona stayed.

I finally focused my gaze on her eyes, she was simply waiting for me to rejoin her in what was about to happen.

Lily began to slide up and down my painfully hard cock. Her lips parted around the underside of my shaft, coating my entire length. Given the circumstances and our impending road trip, part of me wanted to take charge and get things moving, but I didn't. I lay there and let her drive.

She began to scoot lower, obviously rubbing her clit against my engorged head. Tiny, adorable moans began to part her lips each time she hit the spot.

"I could do this all day," she whispered. "I love feeling you like this."

I reached up and cupped a hand under each breast, feeling the perfect weight in my palms. A gentle, coordinated pinch of her hardening nipples got me what I wanted.

"Jesus, you need to be in me now."

Lily raised up on her knees and grabbed my cock, pointing it up in the air. After a few delicate swipes along the length of her slit, her lips opened around me. She held still there for a minute and gazed at me.

My jaw began to sag as I impatiently waited. The smile pulling at the corner of her mouth told me she knew exactly what she was doing. I mirrored her, the game we'd never be able to quit only delaying the inevitable.

We broke at the same time. I pushed up with my hips just as she lowered hers. In a single movement that made us sigh in unison, we were fully together. The heat and friction on my tool was exquisite, extending to every place our skin touched.

She leaned down and kissed me, my cock deep inside her warmth. The sensations were almost overwhelming. Her lips on mine, her breasts grazing my chest as she began to rock back and forth... it had been over a month since we'd made love. Despite the lack of atmosphere in the empty, generic dorm room, here on a dirty mattress, I was in heaven.

Lily sat up after a moment, pushing her hands against my chest. She gazed down at me and rather less gently squeezed my sensitive nipple. She giggled as the involuntary ooh left my mouth.

"God, I love you," I whispered.

Lily smiled back and began to rock more forcefully. My cock stayed mostly buried in her slippery confines, but a third or so slid out on each slow contraction from her movements. I gazed in lust at the spot where we connected. Her pink lips stretched wide around my shaft, leaving her glistening liquid behind.

"You feel so fucking good..." she cooed.

I love it when she swears.

"This is all you baby, I'm your willing boy toy."

Too much?

She laughed brightly and sat all the way against my thighs.

"You're adorable..." she cooed. Lily took a deep breath and let it out before beginning to move her hips again.

True to my word, I laid still and just watched her ride me. Her slowly building enthusiasm began to cause her tits to sway on her chest. I resisted the urge to reach up and add any more stimulation. Besides, the view was amazing. The delicious friction as her dripping snatch slid up and down my cock completed the perfection.

She leaned down to kiss me again after a few moments, our bodies coming back together.

"Sit up with me," she whispered in my ear. "I wanna be closer to you."

She stopped thrusting and I pushed myself up with my arms behind me. Lily shifted from sitting on her knees to wrapping her legs around my butt. Her arms pulled our chests together and we were now face to face. We somehow managed the whole movement without losing our primal connection. She started gently rocking against me again.

I gazed into her eyes and felt everything reflected back. Our lips found each other again and our bodies began to take over. I could no longer remain static and let her navigate alone. My hips started to mirror her movements and I listened to our breathing become interwoven with faint whimpers of pleasure.

"So good..." I moaned quietly. "Think I am gonna miss this room."

Our rhythmic motion was now even, but not frantic. Lily pulled even closer to me and laid her chin on my shoulder. I missed seeing her face, but relished more of our skin-on-skin contact. Her halting breathing in my ear was just as arousing.

The delicious friction of being inside her started the familiar chaos inside me. The pressure deep within my core, the flood of chemicals in my brain... the gorgeous creature intertwined with me was doing this with nothing more than her body. I was both tensing with pleasure and sad that it would soon be over.

"I'm getting close," I said between breaths.

"Me too," she whispered in my ear. "It's okay, we can switch later." she added, sensing my thoughts.

I gave a brief slice of brainpower to the thought that we would go home to our parents' houses this afternoon, but I would wake up in her childhood bed tomorrow. The growing need concentrated where we touched pushed the objection away.

Lily's hips began to buck in earnest. I was halfway to the promised land myself, and I leaned a bit forward so I could wrap my arms around her. My abs and core muscles protested as I sat up, only my strength and Lily's body to keep me from falling backwards. I began to use my arms to pull her closer to me, helping her now-frenetic movements.

"Making me cum..." she moaned, "don't stop."

My hips and arms coordinated their efforts as I felt my own climax beginning. The tired bed frame was now squeaking in rhythm with our lovemaking.

"Oh God," I breathed, "cumming..."

My cock began to twitch the moment her insides clamped down around it, the pressure and friction amazing and unbearable at the same time. One spurt, then two, then three gushed up into her willing womb.

"Fuck, yessss..." she mumbled into my ear.

Another hot spurt of juice filled her insides and I prepared myself for the oncoming blackness. I knew we'd simply fall backward on the bed, no risk of a head injury. A few more tapering contractions pushed yet more of my warm gift into Lily's body. I sighed out a long breath as we basked in the afterglow.

As we sat there, Lily's legs still wrapped around my back, the realization hit me.

She must have been in a similar place. Her body had relaxed and the arms wrapped around my torso released me. I leaned back on my arms again and we stared at each other, panting, both apparently wondering why we weren't temporarily unconscious.

Neither of us spoke, likely reconciling the wonderful hormones coursing through our bodies with the blooming confusion.

We were perfectly timed, right?

I recalled the wonderful pressure around my cock as Lily's tight pussy coaxed my first spurt out. I was currently still inside her, now softening.

I couldn't gauge how long we sat there just gazing at each other. Lily finally broke the silence.

"But we," she whispered, "at the same time..."

I nodded. "I don't know baby, I..." my words trailed off. I simply glanced down at my chest and she took the cue to melt back against me. The warmth of her skin on my chest was reassuring.

What does this mean?

We eventually untangled our limbs and sat next to each other on the bed.

"Should we go?" I finally asked.

We gathered our discarded clothes and dressed. Everything was already packed in her car, so we simply left. The elevator ride down was silent, but not uncomfortably so.

As we walked toward her car, my brain started assembling details and implications. The look on Lily's beautiful face suggested she was doing the same. I searched my memories and couldn't recall a time when our shared climaxes were more exactly in sync. There was only one possible conclusion.

We can't switch places now.

The reality of it dawned on me and I was hit with a wave of thoughts and feelings and possibilities that seemed to swirl like a tornado in my head. The amazing phenomenon that brought us together was now gone. The thing that made our relationship crazy and remarkable was no longer... a thing. I felt myself almost starting to panic, like the change would somehow drive another wedge between us.

Maybe that was the beginning, but what if swapping bodies isn't what makes us... us?

I took a deep breath and sighed it out. More than a year of amazing, if patently impossible events that stitched Lily and me together, they were all still real.

We are real.

Did the universe give us this temporary gift just to do this?

We'd arrived at Lily's car and she put the key in my hand. We climbed in and I started the engine. I gazed across at her, the softly confident look on her face and the warmth in her eyes telegraphed everything I needed to know. I felt the certainty starting to envelop my thoughts and push away the doubt.

"We got this, right?" I croaked out.

In front of us were a summer at home and again living with parents, college, being adults, staying together, life... probably all those things.

Lily smiled broadly, with a spark in her eyes like I'd just given her an unfathomable challenge that she knew she'd just crush into submission.

"We got this, Harper."

I leaned across the armrest and kissed her, willing myself to keep it together. I pulled away and gazed into her strong, confident eyes again. She grinned back and pulled my head toward her for a second kiss before releasing me. The look on her face said everything I needed without words.

"Now drive me home, you're taking me out for burgers tonight."

- - - * * * - - -

For everyone that read 'till the end, thank you for your time, and hopefully emotional investment in this story. While I had never intended to take Theo and Lily any further than the fun idea of a body-swapped prom, I think we all fell in love with them a little bit. The idea of experiencing life through the eyes of the other gender resonated far more than I would have expected. I tried my best to accurately and fairly represent both sides of that beautiful, sexy coin through the eyes of our adorable, virginal couple. The tingles and emotions of that first love creates some fertile ground to explore how wonderful, confusing, magical, frustrating, wild, and exhausting that stage of life can be.

I hope this sequel hits all the same feels (and some new ones...) that made the first one enjoyable. I know we had to put Theo and Lily through a rough patch to get them here, but I'm tickled where and how they ended up.

I'm working on some new tales very different from this, and each other, so stay tuned and 'follow' if you'd like to get updates.

As always, your comments and emails are what keep us authors writing. Keep 'em coming!