The Bare Necessities (Non-Profane Edition) Read Free Page A

too.”
    “Bloody annoyin',”
the angry girl muttered and swung her towel over her shoulder.
    “Is your sister
OK?” Claire asked. “I saw her getting quite distressed
earlier.”
    “That's one word
for it,” Paige replied with a guilty smile, and she looked at her
naked friend. “She's gone textile.” Claire didn't respond, and
Paige licked her lips as she considered how best to continue. “She
doesn't want people seeing her. Been like that for a couple o'
years now. It winds me up.”
    “Why?” Claire
asked in a concerned voice.
    “'Cause, it's
naturist here. And I don't feel comfortable if some people are
dressed. It's wrong. It shouldn't be allowed.”
    “But loads of
teenagers and … err well adults … have times when they want to be
covered up. It's just … puberty? Didn't you have that?”
    “Hell no!” Paige
cried. “It's just … growing up. Did you?”
    Claire nodded and
opened the gate to the pool. “A bit,” Claire admitted. “I got
bullied at school about my weight so it … well it affects you.”
    “Wouldn't affect
me,” Paige muttered. “Only matters if you care what people think. I
get called flat-chested all the time.”
    “But, you're not,”
Claire replied and the two teenagers threw their towels onto empty
deckchairs.
    “I know I'm not.
But 'B' cups are small now,” Paige giggled. “Not like your massive
pair!”
    Claire snorted,
but her companion didn't wait for a response and dived into the
unheated pool. Paige emerged from the water, her red hair plastered
to her face and shivered, but smiled as she pushed her shoulders
under the water and panted. “It's quite warm,” she lied. “Once you
get used to it.”
    Claire sat on the
edge of the pool and put her shins in the cool water. She squealed
and watched as Paige swam across the pool on her front and then her
back. “Come in then.”
    “I'm just getting
used to it.”
    “You did this
earlier,” Paige moaned and flicked water at her friend. Claire
shrieked and kicked the cold water back, but Paige was unmoved as
the water landed on her. “Just jump in, it's easier when you just
take the plunge.”
    “She's right,” the
lifeguard added as he overheard the two girls talking and the
shapely, black-haired eighteen year-old, pushed her body upright
and tried to slide gingerly into the water.
    She shrieked when
it got to her waist and pushed herself back out of the water. “It's
freezing!” Paige shook her head and swam back across the pool. It
took Claire a few minutes to get used to the water temperature
enough to join Paige, but by this time, the energetic girl had
completed a handful of laps of the pool.
    Paige and Claire
raced each other several times from one side of the pool to the
other, but Claire was the stronger swimmer and won almost every
race. By the time they had spent almost an hour in the pool, Claire
was ready to leave. “I'm getting out,” she announced, and Paige,
keen not to be left alone, hauled herself out of the water and into
the sunshine. “Do you want a drink?”
    Claire pointed to
a vending machine on the verandah. “No change,” Paige replied and
Claire reached for her money bag clipped to her towel and lent her
friend the 60p she needed. They sat down on the lawn in the direct
sunshine and opened their drinks. “How long you staying for?”
Claire asked and made small talk with her new friend. Paige enjoyed
talking to the softly spoken teenager and during their
conversation, found that they had much in common. They chatted
about boyfriends (they had both recently been dumped), hobbies
(they both liked singing and music) and naturism (their families
were both members of local naturist clubs).
    “So, why are you
so angry with your sister?” Claire asked as their conversation
petered out and Paige shrugged.
    “I don't know. I
guess, she gets to do her own thing, and I was always told just to
get on with it,” Paige admitted and rubbed her eyes. “I mean, I
don't understand why she