Skinny Dipping with the Boys

Chapter 2 - The Long Drive Up

We left for Bass Lake on the morning of July 2nd. It was about a five to six hour drive from Orange County. I was in a funk. I had not said more than ten words to my parents since our fight two days earlier. I spent my last day of freedom at the beach with my friends. I made the best of it but it wasn't the same knowing my time was limited. I tanned and flirted. I body surfed with all the boys. I lost my top on a wave and didn't put it back on until we came in. I drank too much of a vodka concoction in a water bottle. I kissed the captain of the lacrosse team, Joey Anderson, for fun. It meant nothing. All and all, a typical summer day at the beach.

My dad insisted we get on the road by nine o'clock in the morning. He wanted to get up to the lake by mid-afternoon. Getting a family of five all packed up and loaded into an SUV by nine a.m. was nearly impossible. He was stressed out. I was the oldest at fifteen followed by my sister Eve at twelve, brother Jack at ten, sister Audrey at seven and brother Jake at five. My parents had their hands full. I don't think they thought through the having five kids thing very well. I packed about a dozen teeny bikinis and enough short shorts for a week. My plan was to spend most of my time tanning on the dock and being antisocial. I just needed to do my time. If I could make it through the Fourth without looking at all my classmates posts on social media, I could survive the week. That would not be easy. I had really bad FOMO.

I slept for most of the drive up. Eve sat next to me. She was your typical pouty preteen. In a few years she'd be something else. The boys already loved her. The funny thing was that I didn't really want her to be like me. I know she looked up to me but I wanted more for her. She was a competitive gymnast but soon she'd go boy crazy and make the switch to cheerleading like we all did. My brothers were rambunctious and loud but good boys. They were natural athletes from a young age. They had more energy than a Ferrari. My littlest sister Audrey was amazing. She was quiet and still finding her way. I thought she was the prettiest of all of us.

I woke up to the familiar sound of my brothers fighting in the car. I took a deep breath and looked out the window. Southern California had given way to Northern California. It was peaks and pines as far as my eyes could see. About fifteen miles before the south entrance to Yosemite National Park, my dad turned onto Route 222 into the Bass Lake area. When the warm waters of the lake came into view, I must admit I did feel better. It was gorgeous up there. The weather called for ninety degree sunshine all week.

Soon the lake houses perched above the water on the south shore started to appear. When my dad pulled into the driveway of a massive dark wood lakefront home on Mallard Lane, even I was impressed. We were the first to arrive. For some reason at that moment, it dawned on me that I knew absolutely nothing about the people we would be sharing this beautiful house with for the next seven nights. That's mostly because I never bothered to ask.

"It looks lovely," said my mom.

"It's a great house," said my dad. "It has a huge deck overlooking the lake and a private dock."

"Who again are these families we're staying with?" I asked.

"Well, both Doctor Stone and Mister Walker were my fraternity brothers. The Stones have four kids. Grant's the oldest. I think he's sixteen. Ashley and Caitlin are identical twins. They must be around fourteen. Mike, the youngest, is ten or so. Then the Walker's have three boys. Jed is twenty and he's bringing his girlfriend up too. Rusty is seventeen and Will is twelve."

"It will be a fun group," said my mom. "You kids will have a blast."

I was shell shocked. It never occurred to me there'd be boys around my age. I expected a herd of elementary schoolers.

"The Stones rented a pontoon boat and the Walkers are bringing up their new wakeboard boat. We'll have all the water toys. You can wakeboard and wake surf everyday."

"What were the older boys' names again?" I asked.

I didn't want to get my hopes up, but the trip started to sound a little more interesting.