"Relax babe, just because this thing is a bit 'underground' doesn't mean it won't be fun," he had reassured her, "...and besides, at the worst it'll be nice and warm with some cool water to chill in."
Steve and Michelle pulled up to the campground around noon. The glaring sun and blue sky had made it almost uncomfortably hot, so they were more than happy to have a cool river to chill out next to, while some of their favorite tunes were blaring. Steve's girlfriend on the other hand, was a bit less enthusiastic.
"But we won't know anybody there!" Michelle frowned from the driver's seat. The couple who were friends of theirs that had invited them to go to the river for the weekend - that was 2 hours out of town - had cancelled.
"Well then we'll have a chance to make some new friends!" Steve countered. Michelle had tried to keep positive...she really didn't want to be a downer, but couldn't help but feel nervous.
Finding their campsite, she parked her hatchback and popped the trunk, and Steve walked around and began pulling gear and supplies out. She got out and looked around, surveying the area. There were still quite a few empty lots at that point.
"You're gonna be fine honey...this'll be so much fun, I promise! It's really warm and the music is gonna be great!" he was trying to stay upbeat as he reassured her, pulling more gear out.
She forced a smile. "I know, I just always feel a little weird out in the wild...and I guess I'm still a little nervous about the scene you know?" Steve had exposed Michelle to the world of electronic music and she'd gotten pretty into it, which was how Steve had convinced her to go to a camping party on the river that was known to have local DJs spinning it.
There was also the small detail that he had convinced her that this trip would be a great time to try molly. She had never done it before, and always thought it was a hardcore party drug. He really just wanted to get her to loosen up and thought that would do the trick. And while he hadn't told Michelle, he'd also heard rumors that this party sometimes got a bit wild: drugs, suggestive themes, even nudity were rumored to go down.
They pitched the tent and had some lunch in the open back of her trunk, talking about what they wanted to do for the day and watched the other camp goers pull into the campsite. They'd heard the water was so warm, you could go in at night comfortably, and there were even small cliffs to jump into the water from. Cliff jumping was another thing that had got Michelle to go; it was something she'd enjoyed as a kid and wanted to get comfortable doing as an adult.
As they ate they saw people of all types driving through - hippies, hipsters, bros, a lot of young girls, just a large assortment of young people joining in for the party by the river.
Dusting off their sandwiches, Steve packed his cooler-backpack with some drinks and snacks. The plan was to check out the scenery, take in the sun, maybe get a little buzzed, and enjoy the party.
They hiked down a short trail toward the river. Walking through the trees brought them to an opening where they were greeted by blue water flowing against large rock cliffs. Looking down the river's edge you could walk and see the open beach area where it looked like people were going to gather. Across the river from that, people were standing about 30 feet up on a cliff, looking down at the water below. A fit, muscular guy confidently backflipped if it, landing feet first in the water. Michelle gasped at how casual he was. He then popped up, laughing as his friends cheered.
"Wanna see what the crowd is like?" Steve asked her.
"...alright" she replied timidly.
They walked toward the group as more people jumped off the cliff into the water. Looking over at Michelle, Steve could see she was definitely nervous to be around this group of strangers. Perhaps she'd loosen up more as they settled in. Arriving at the party area, they noticed more and more people showing up as the DJs started setting their gear up, and they laid down their blanket to the side of the soundsystem. Girls in rafts floated toward them from upstream, and European-looking guys in speedos paddled over to try to talk to them. Michelle and Steve laughed as he reached into the backpack and pulled out some of the cheap beer he had brought. Michelle rolled her eyes at his frugal ways as she took hers.
"There's a million good beers to choose from and you have to pick the cheap ones?" She teased. "Maybe I'll drink the river water instead."
Steve scoffed, "Come on...this isn't the place to be snobby Michelle, we're here to have fun! Besides...drinking's not what we're really here to do either."
Her smile faded, and a slightly pensive look came over her face at the thought of the drugs.
They cracked their beers and Steve held his up to cheers. Her eyes rolled again and she "clinked" her can against his with a smile, taking a sip of the watery brew. They people-watched the other partiers as they drank; many weren't wearing much at all, and Michelle, who was in a tank-top, jean skirt and flip-flops with her suit on underneath, felt a bit self-conscious now too.
The music started up and some cheers of appreciation rang out, although the dancing was yet to commence. Steve figured it was going to start slow and pick up later as the alcohol, weed, and whatever else took hold.
"Wanna try out the water?" Steve suggested hopefully, after a bit. The initial buzz from the beer had begun and he hoped Michelle might've been easing in as well.
Covering her face from the hot sun, she shrugged. Might as well do what they came to do, she thought to herself.
"...sure." she replied with a smirk.
They got up and walked down the river a bit away from the beach to enter the water. The crowd buzzed down the way and people laughed and cheered as another person jumped in off the cliff. Steve took his shirt off, and stuffed it in the backpack, as Michelle looked around. She found she was timid about being in a bikini, even though everyone else was liberally stripping off their clothes due to how hot it was. Steve was burning up himself, even without a shirt on. Finally, she stripped off her tank top slowly, and adjusted her bikini top to make sure everything was covered. Then she reached down to unzip her skirt, but stopped, and put her hands on her hips.
"What's wrong?" Steve asked.
"I dunno, there's just a lot of cute girls here and they all look really good in their suits and stuff. I just feel kinda weird." she said with trepidation in her voice.
"Look, I think you need to relax and have fun with this. That's what were here for."
Michelle pursed her lips - she hated being told to relax. She wanted to have fun, though, and really didn't know why it was a problem. She always had felt perfectly fine in her suit at the beach.
"Maybe it's just the unfamiliar territory." she thought to herself.
"Alright, now I'm getting hot so let's get in!" Steve said, laughing.
Glancing around once more, she pulled down her jean skirt, revealing her sexy green floral string bikini. The strings hugged her hips and she slowly stepped out of her skirt.
Looking back, Steve noticed just how well the cut of it showed off her nice, plump, yet athletic ass. Michelle was a high level college soccer player and, although she was on her off-season, was still extremely fit. He knew she had freshly waxed her bikini area and she looked cute as hell in her little swimsuit.
Leaving their stuff on the beach, save for their beverages, they waded in slowly, the water refreshing the both of them in the hot summer sun. The riverbed was smooth stones that slightly massaged their feet, and the meandering pace of the river allowed them to chill in place without too much fighting against the current.
Hearing a splash, Michelle's attention moved over to the rock again. More people had congregated at the top, with a handful standing by the edge, waiting their turn to leap. It didn't seem THAT high up from her view.
