“Haha! really?”

“Yeah, yeahhh.”

“Just make sure you hang on super tightly to your suit, we don’t wanna lose that.” 

We both know that’s a risk, well one of the bigger risks were willing to take this morning. Plus, they are new suits and I for sure do not want to lose mine, I’m broke as hell and this is the only one I’ve got. Hers is bright and patterned, mine is too. We are ready for summer.

We had swam together like this in Sanibel some early morning probably six or seven years ago. But, it was very dark, the moon was out, and there was not a soul on that beach.

“Are you sure?”

“Come on! No one can see you from here, I promise. I’ve done this before,”

I laughed, and started to take my bottoms off in the water. I look over to her and note she is doing the same. I have mentioned to other friends that I like to do this from time to time, when the ocean isn’t too cold, and when the situation is just right. Only a select few ever joined me, and with ones that I knew would never say yes, well, I’d just never bring it up. its not like I’m out swimming naked at every beach I go to.

only this time I didnt care if she or anyone else had said “yes” or “no”. This time I was going. No one was going to tell me “no.” I needed this.

I’m still struggling to take my top off. I’m trying to go about it in just the perfect way so the boats and the incoming crowd around us could not see. Some time passes, of course, I kept trying. ”Eternal perfectionist,” I think to myself. Usually, there is always an unhealthy amount of thoughts crossing my head at all times. My brain is full. I slide my top off underwater.

We are now naked, and we also don’t want anyone to know about it.

Like real life mermaids minus all the tails and scales shit. We laugh. We giggle. We look up at the sun. 

“It’s so hot out,” she says.