Just at the right moment, Julia was struck with a sense of Earth's natural splendor. The warmth of the sun, the sound of birds chirping, even the sight of butterflies dancing in mid air, all contributed to a feeling of peace and serenity.
"Well...?" Lara asked, waiting for Julia to remove the nightie and go frolicking in the woods naked.
Julia paused.
"I don't know..." Julia replied, sounding shy.
Lara walked down the steps and on to a patch of grass in front of Julia.
"See! Look at me!"
Lara danced with her arms up in the air, twirling in circles and finally progressing into a Hawaiian style hula dance.
"It's so fun!" Lara encouraged.
Julia smiled and watched. Lara had walked up to Julia on the steps and reached for her hand.
"Come on!"
Julia got up and followed Lara to the patch of grass at the bottom of the steps.
"You just pull one strap down like this..." Lara said, slowly pulling one of the straps off of Julia's shoulder.
Julia giggled.
"...Then you pull the other strap down like this!"
Julia laughed. "Hey!"
Lara stood with her hands resting on her hips. Julia had pulled the straps back up to her shoulders and took a seat back on the porch.
"I guess I'm just not like you." Julia spoke softly. "We grew up on the same street, but it's like we're from two completely different worlds."
Lara looked down at her feet.
Julia continued. "I guess that's why I've always envied you. You're everything that I'm not."
"But I've always envied you Julia. You have a mom and dad who are still together, and they gave you so much love and attention. I never got any of that."
"My parents?" Julia asked sarcastically.
"Yeah."
"My mom and dad wouldn't let me do anything!" Julia countered. "At least you got to be whatever you wanted. You got to do whatever made you happy."
Lara blew out a breath of sarcasm. "Me, happy?"
"Yeah! All those stories you told me about growing up. Being naked and free, and being with Teresa. You could do whatever you wanted."
Lara rolled her eyes. "It's different when you don't have anyone who cares for you."
They paused to hear a nuthatch sing out a repetition of "yak yak yak yak yak yak yak", and then took flight towards the grove of oak trees.
"So what makes you happy?" Lara asked.
Julia stopped to think. "Moving on to college."
"College?"
"Yeah, it's going to be exciting going to a different school, meeting new people, living in a new town."
"That's not happiness for me." Lara answered. "Happiness is reaching into your soul and finding that one thing that's purely you, and then pursuing it."
"I don't know, all throughout high school I always dreamed of college." Julia insisted.
"But did you ever stop to think that going to college is what your parents wanted, and maybe not what you wanted?"
Julia looked confused. "But, I do want to go to college."
"Have you ever been to college?" Lara asked. "Do you even know what it's like? How do you even know that's what you want?"
"Because I want to learn something! I want to be somebody!" Julia explained.
"But you already are somebody! You're you, you're special! Now is your opportunity to reach inside you and bring it out! I mean, did you ever think that all this time you were being raised to be what your parents wanted, and not what was already burning inside you? All this time you've been trained to make them happy, and all this time you ignored this little girl inside you."
"Oh, I don't know about that!" Julia chuckled. "Look, I realize that I'm all conservative because my parents are all conservative, but I'm not complaining about it. I like what I'm doing."
"Yeah?" Lara questioned, putting her hands back on hips. "Then why are you friends with me? Why do you like being with a naked girl who shaves her pussy and masturbates in front of you?
Julia grinned in embarrassment, laughing, covering her eyes with her hands.
"OK, OK!" She said, snorting.
"Maybe deep down inside you there's this little girl who just wants to be herself and let all that light burst out."
Julia kept grinning, progressing more into someone who might be acknowledging a truth but choosing to hide behind a smile.
"Maybe you really do want to love that little girl but are afraid to acknowledge that you might have hurt her instead. If you try to keep her bottled up, she'll only yell louder at you. I mean look at me. Look at me Julia! How many times did I walk into a Starbucks completely naked the past few days? How many?"
Julia looked up at Lara.
"And maybe that's why you don't feel comfortable about taking your clothes off." Lara continued. "Maybe it's not about being afraid of your parents, but being afraid to stand up and do something amazing."
Julia smiled, but clearly her eyes were welling up and beginning to turn red. Lara sensed her opportunity.
"If you were take that nightie off right now, and walk into the woods naked with me, and discover that you really love being a nudist, you'll always have me Julia. If you decide you don't want to go to Fort Wayne... I'm here for you. I'll never leave you Julia, you know that!"
Julia looked down at her feet, trying to hide her tears, but sniffling instead.
"No. You don't know my mother and father, not the way I know them. They're so much a part of me and I'm so much a part of them. You know, you've met them, you know what they're like. I mean, at least you never had parents that clutched you so tightly. At least you have the freedom to do this. It's easier for you."
Lara's expression turned sour.
"No. No Julia. It was not easier for me. Trust me, it was never easy for me. I went through a lot to get where I am today. Maybe having the parents I had helped me to see my path more clearly. But it was Hell going down that path. It was never easy for me to get here. But you Julia, you have that path open for you right now. I mean, I'm not saying you have to be nudist, you just have to look at that little girl inside you, pull her up to the surface, and hug her and kiss her. I'm here for you Julia. Look at me! I'm here!"
Julia rolled her eyes and looked up at the sky. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She took in several deep breaths.
"Come on girl." Lara encouraged. "I want you to take this thing off and walk with me.
Lara tugged at the straps on Julia's nightie.
"Come on!"
Julia looked apprehensive. She wanted to, but was afraid to concede to Lara.
"Come on! Don't think about who's watching or what's around you, only think about being with me and enjoying this beautiful day we have.
Julia took in more deep breaths and wiped away the tears from her eyes. She nodded her head and slowly stood up. She looked around, and smiled and chuckled at the sight of Lara's eyes opening wide. She moved the straps over her shoulders and let the nightie fall to the porch.
