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"You wore this?" she asked.

"Only here, never at the beach. I'm a coward. Try it on. Go on," she urged and Star began to disrobe. Misty was already down to her bra and panties.

"Cat, I have this pair of shorts that matches my biggest bikini top," she added.

I stared at it.

"Unless you want to go topless," she added with a teasing smile.

I shook my head and took the faded pink top.

"It's going to be too small," I said. "It won't fasten in the back."

She thought a moment.

"We'll tie something to it. Here," she said and plucked a pink ribbon from the top of the dresser. "Just make a knot and it will work fine. It doesn't matter what it will look like. It's only us," she added.

Misty was already stepping into her suit. I looked at her with envy. She raised her eyebrows when she saw me staring.

"What?"

"I wish I had your figure," I said.

"What? Did you hear that? We're supposed to tell each other the truth," she reminded me.

"It is the truth," I said.

"I believe her," Jade said, picking out a suit for herself, another two piece, this one gold with a thong bottom. She started to get undressed and then stopped and looked at me. "Well?" she said. "Aren't you going to get into your bathing suit?"

"It's not a bathing suit," I moaned.

"It'll work, won't it? Later, we'll get you a real bathing suit and you can keep it here so your mother won't know," she added. Star laughed. She looked terrific in Jade's suit. What a beautiful figure she has, I thought. They all have beautiful figures. look like a baby elephant out there and I can't swim either.

I stared at the shorts and top in my hands I'll look so foolish in t

his, I thought. I was so ashamed of my figure that I was happy we didn't have as many mirrors at home.

"Can't I just watch you all swim?" I begged.

"No," Jade said firmly. She unbuttoned her blouse and pulled it off quickly. "You're one of us now. You do what we do. There'll be no exceptions, no excuses."

I looked down. I felt myself trembling.

"Jade," Star said. "Maybe just this one time it's okay if she doesn't want to..."

"No," Jade insisted, flashing fire back at Star. "This is the first big test for the OWP's. We need to do everything together," she asserted.

"Okay, okay. Stop fighting," I cried. "I'll put on the suit, I'll try to swim." I wanted to be part of the group more than anything, even if it meant drowning in Jade's pool, wearing nothing more than a tight pink bikini top.

I reached back, undid my bra and took it off. I quickly put on the top Jade had given me and, just as I suspected, it was about an inch too short in back. Jade stepped around and tied the ribbon, making it work.

"There," she said. "You survived. Put on the shorts and let's get to the water. I have suntan lotion out in the cabana. And music, too."

I hurried to slip into the shorts she had given me. They were snug, but they worked.

"Onward, OWP's," Jade declared.

"It won't take you any time at all to learn how to swim," Misty said, coming up beside me. "Don't worry about it."