**_Rayburn_** I admit it. It was stupid to go along with this nonsense. Harvey and his crew have already shown, verbally and physically, how they feel about me. If they hadn’t touched my pride, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Because of that, I’m cold, waist deep in the icy waters of the forest lake, and alone, surrounded by the thick oak trees that probably have all sorts of critters inside them. I know I may get hypothermia from staying in this lake for too long, but really, I think it’s better than someone random body seeing me in the nude. As though I summoned someone such as that, a twig snaps to my right. I slink deeper into the water, leaving only my nose and my eyes above the surface. A man steps out of the forest, eyes darting around, most of his face covered by the thick, fluffy coat shielding him from the sharp blows wind. There’s two dog looking ear things on the hood of his coat, and he seems to be carrying a bag stuffed to the brim and bulging from whatever he’s carrying. He spots me and waves. _Dear everything that is holy, thank you for giving life to this amazing boy!_ I lift myself out of the lake, not coming fully out for obvious reasons. “Is that a coat in you bag, Oswald?”Oswald nods and beckons me closer. I shake my head. “As you can tell, I don’t have anything on.” His eyebrows go down, then he takes off the bag from his back and pulls out some trousers, a white shirt, and a homemade jacket. The same one as his actually. Mrs. Burtrom liked to have us matching like a set of twins. I let out a thankful sigh. Of course, I don’t express my gratitude, for that would be too much asking of me. Oswald understands by now and places the clothing at the shore of the lake, just out of reach of the water. He stands there still, staring at me, and I stare at him back. I clear my throat, loudly, but he still stands there. I frown. “Turn around, Oswald.” Oswald’s eyes go down in disappointment, but he does as I say. Sometimes he really is too much. I quickly step out the lake, my steps slowed by the water. I shake off most of the water from my skin, and the cold air honestly makes it worse as my body shivers as I pull the shirt over my head and my trousers up my legs. For last is the coat, and I have a hard trouble getting my arms through the stuffed sleeves, but when I do, and button it up, my body is warm. I sigh and smile a bit. “How wonderful.” Oswald is peeking from behind himself and sees that I’m done. He holds out a hand for me to take. I accept it and he twists our fingers together. There are creases at the corner of his eyes which tell me that he’s smiling, his mouth is covered by the front of his coat. I roll my eyes, but feel my cheeks warm. _Truly wonderful and good hearted is he._ *** **Extra Because I Got Nothing To Do** **_Oswald_** Rayburn sneezes and snot shoots out from his red nose. His eyes are bagged and heavy-lidded; he’s tucked underneath his comforter, a wet-hot cloth on his head. I stroke his cheek with a finger, causing him to look at me and frown. I laugh. Even through sickness, my Ray has strength to always be in a bad mood. “Don’t touch me,” he says, voice strange because of his plugged nose, “You’ll get sick.” I kiss his nose softly. He responds by butting my head. “Hey!” “I said don’t touch me, you idiot!” Rayburn groans, tired from his outburst, and lays back down. “That hurt. Feed me some more soup.” I peek at the door to see if his aunt, Miss Florence, has returned back with his food. She hasn’t. “Your aunt isn’t back yet, and the bowl you have is already empty.” “But I want foood,” he moans. Rayburn coughs then and I move to grab a tissue. I bring it to his mouth right on time as he hacks up more mucus. I roll the tissue into a ball and put it in the nearby trash can. Rayburn’s eyes are closed when I look back, his mouth open and breathing softly. “That was quick,” I mutter. He frowns in his sleep and mutters, “Go wash your dirty hands,” before his face slacks and relaxes once more. When Miss Florence makes it back upstairs, I’m on the floor in laughter. “Huh,” she says, as she looks at my shaking body with concern and Rayburn’s sleeping form, “What did I miss?”

(Written while listening to Mad Hatter by: Melanie Martinez, def should listen while you read, it’s where I got my inspiration. What are you doing?! Stop here and listen to the music while you read!) Wait for it… Ready. Okay, go! Music plays gently on the speakers until the bass gives in, vibrating and rocking from tree to tree. The girl on the speakers does her thing while the teens lay into each other, making out. There’s two of them. I watch my ex suck on the girl like a leech, eyeing their bodies as they back into the river, in their birthday suits, bare assed like a pair of babies. A cheater and a bitch- such a good couple. I snarl from behind the pine, they turn their backs and I step out, gathering their clothes. I light the match from the box, smirking out at their unsuspecting backs. The freckle on my ex’s spine catches the moonlight as she moans into the night. I drop the clothes in a pile, releasing the lit match on top. It ignites, the flames roaring into the air. They turn just as I crawl into his truck, starting the loud engine. I stomp the gas, hitting as many bushes as I can as he leaps from the water, leaving her for his beloved truck. I stop on the highway beside my car, leaving his truck in the middle of traffic. I light another match, the red and blue flame grins. I throw it over my shoulder, climbing into my car as his truck goes up in flames.

Alice looked around. Oh shoot. She thought. “Guys?” Silence followed. “G-Guys? This isn’t funny.” She looked over to the dock where her pile of clothes once were. They were gone. “No, no, no” she muttered. “This can’t be happening.” Alice went out with her friends that afternoon. They decided that they wanted to go skinny dipping. She was hesitant at first, but was sick of being left out so she followed in suit. The others had stripped off and jumped in, already swimming further out. Alice was peeling off her trousers and shirt. She was hesitant to take off her underwear. “Come on Alice! Don’t be a party pooper!” Jake had shouted from across the lake. Alice had had a small crush on Jake for quite some time. “Screw it” she whispered before taking them off. She jumped in, the cold water hitting her skin immediately. She saw a patch of sunlight coming through the trees and decided to swim to it. Her friends started to swim over. “Alice, I see you’ve finally decided to join us” Janet said to her. Janet was her friend. Or so she thought. “Nice one” Jake said to her. “I’m going to go over to there, where it’s deeper” Janet said, pointing to the other side of the lake. “Me too” Jake said. “Me three” her other ‘friend’ Bella said. “I’ll join you guys in a bit” Three hours after she went in, they had gone. And so had her clothes. Alice decided to swim over to the dock. “G-Guys?” She asked into the silence again. Still no response. Her head bobbed up and down. She was naked. Fully naked. Her house was at least a twenty minutes walk away. I can’t walk back naked. I live on the high road for goodness sake! I’ll get spotted! She thought. But she had no other choice. Alice climbed out. She then realised just how idiotic she had been. The others never wanted to be her friend in the first place. They just wanted to play a prank on her. And they had been successful. She was fully exposed. There was no way she would get back safely. Something would surely happen on her way home. It was dark, but not too dark. And of course there were lampposts and cars. Shoot.

“Please Harper?” Sylvia begged. “Everyone’s doing it!” “I don’t know guys,” Harper said, trailing off. “We’re only in seventh grade! We probably shouldn’t be going skinny dipping in the lake in the middle of the afternoon.” “Ugh, she’s such a wimp,” Lynda complained to her best friend, Marie. “Some things never change,” Marie responded. Harper shook her head, hating that she was the uncool one. “Fine! I’ll go skinny dipping. But I want one of you guys to go first.” “Ooh, I can!” Lynda volunteered, because it was her idea in the first place. All the others nodded. “Uhm, I’m going to go get a towel, okay? I’ll be right back,” Harper walked out of her room and to the closet in the hall where her family stored all the towels. She was walking back with a floral beach towel when she stopped cold at her friends’ voices. “I can’t believe she’s falling for this,” Marie chuckled. “I know, right?” Sylvia added. “New kids fall for everything. She thinks we’re her real friends. Like, come on, girl.” Lynda snorted. “It’ll be so funny when we take her clothes! She won’t even know that it’s coming!” Harper fought back the tears in her eyes. These girls had been playing her all along? Well, she knew she was going to get some revenge. She waited awhile longer outside the door, listening to their master plan to get her to jump in and then they would steal her clothes and run away with them. “Sorry,” she said, reentering her bedroom. “I had to go to the bathroom.” The truth was she didn’t want the girls to see that she’d been crying, but she wasn’t about to tell them that. They had lied to her, so why couldn’t she lie to them? “Hey, I have an idea!” Harper said. “Why don’t all of us jump in at the same time?” “Ooh, okay! But you have to swim all the way to the end of the lake and back before you can put on your clothes,” Sylvia said. Harper grinned. “Sounds awesome!” Her master plan was unfolding. “Let’s go!” Marie said, jumping up and running out of Harper’s room. The others followed, Harper being last. “Yes,” she whispered to herself. *** They were all at the lake, towels in hand, about 20 minutes later. Harper, still grinning, set her towel down and started to take off her shirt. She was really uncomfortable stripping all the way, so she had put on a skin tone bra and matching underwear that she hoped the girls didn’t notice. “Everyone ready?” Sylvia called from somewhere to her left. “Yes!” Marie, Lynda, and Harper all shouted at the same time. “3… 2… 1… JUMP!” Lynda called, and Harper heard three splashes and started to get to work. She uncovered the jar of ants that had been concealed in her towel and poured them in each of the girls’ pile of clothes. Then, she waded in noiselessly and pretended like she had been in there all along. When all of the girls emerged and started to put their clothes on, it was the Popular Girl Itch Fest. Harper was giggling uncontrollably at the sight of Lynda, Marie, and Sylvia itching and screaming like crazy. “That,” she said in between laughs, “is what you get for playing me and planning to steal my clothes!” “You knew?!” Sylvia asked, momentarily pausing her screaming. “I heard you guys plotting it in my bedroom while I was ‘going to the bathroom’ and getting my towel.” Harper did air quotes around the “going to the bathroom” part. “Ugh! I hate you!” Lynda shrieked, itching her legs and arms and chest. “Ditto,” Harper said, picking up her towel. She hesitated at the plastic jar of ants and then tossed it at Marie, who yelled not-so-nice words and jumped back into the lake to get away from them. Harper stalked off, a satisfied grin on her face and a smug pep in her step.

The cold water takes your breath at first. But what it gives back is electrifying. Your feet tingle. The full moon illuminates the still lake in front of you. You melt into its pearlescent glow. Your worries left with your clothes. You can hear your friends splashing behind you as they also wade naked into the lake. Determined to shake off your title as "the wimp" you take a deep breath close plunge headfirst into the water. You feel your feet play with the surface as you dive down as far as your breath will take you. You burst through the surface again and take a giant breath in. Wow, how alive you feel! There was silence. The splashing and laughter of your friends was replaced with a ripple from a slight breeze. "Guys. Where'd you go?" You move briskly towards the edge of the lake. The exciting electricity of the cold water replaced with a sudden dread in the pit of your stomach. You pull yourself out of the water and search around the banks but there was no trace of your friends. Nor your clothes! "Fuck!" The breeze kissed your wet skin and brought with it a sudden shiver. You run up the forest path towards where the cars were parked. "Guys, this isn't funny. Where are you?" Every stride steals the pride that it's taken you so long to build up. You hear that voice emerge from within like it always does: "No one will ever like you. You will never fit in!" You reach the car park and it's deserted. "WHYYYY?" You see an empty bin bag flailing in the wind. You tear a hole in the bottom and poke your head through so at least there's some defence against the cold. You begin pacing in the dark lane towards the direction you hope might be home.

Kyle. You’re a fucking idiot. The first hot girl to ask you to go skinny dipping and you jump in without an ounce of hesitation. God damn bafoon. Shaye was on another level. That tiny waist of hers, that Carmel-colored skin, that perfect little rear, and those perky… Kyle. Focus! Get your god damn life together! The cliff was much higher than it had appeared at ground level. It felt as though my heart would leap out of my throat, with every organ still intact. It sounded as though there were at least eight or nine others in the water. All butt naked...Shaye included. It was pitch black besides the moon, and a minimal amount of stars, and for that I was grateful. Grateful that Shaye couldn't see me flopping about in mid-air. I plunged into the dark abyss, to the sound of people screaming. It was freezing cold, God it was so fucking cold. It felt as though a million daggers were pressing into my skin, enough to form a crude indentation, but unable to fully penetrate and draw blood. I opened my eyes and could see the blurred image of the moon, up North through the water. The moon got further and further as I went deeper and deeper. Deep enough to where my ears screamed in pain. For a split second, I thought I was going to die. Either by drowning or by freezing to death. And then my body ejected upwards at light speed. My head erupted from the water and I let out a howl of pain. This water was beyond freezing... Silence. No sounds of laughter, no sloshing in the water. Nothing. Was this a horrible prank? Complete and Utter Silence. Everyone was gone, Shaye included. It was just my naked ass in the middle of this freezing lake. My teeth clattered together viciously as I worked up the strength to scream Shaye's name. But my words came out as broken stutters. Down below I felt the brief movement of something brush against my feet. "Kyle!" It was Shaye. I fired a glance at her as she stood on the pier. Her arms covering her privates. "Kyle! Get out of the water!" I couldn't make out what she was saying. Not until her third or fourth time of repeating it. But by then it was too late. I felt a violent surge of waves as they pushed me forward. The icy cold water engulfed my head, pulling me below. I tried my best to swim towards Shaye, I swam as fast as I could. I was there, I was so close. I could see her, kneeling down on the pier reaching her hands out at me. Screaming, screaming for me to go faster. I reached for her. And then I felt the daggers that penetrated the skin, all along my torso. I couldn't hear my own screams. I didn't hear Shaye anymore. The last thing I felt was warmth. The warmth of my own blood as it poured down my neck, and into the icy waters.

“1……2……3!” We all yelled, jumping and submerging our naked body’s in water As my body collided with the freezing water every muscle in my body tensed, as my head emerged I heard shrieks and laughter as my friends splashed each other with water. I was swimming closer to the group when I got a face full of cold water, “Oh my god, Jamie!” I yelled, he swam over to me, picked me up, and threw me over to the group. My whole body submerged again, I came up shivering, “Jamie!” I laughed I looked around I saw Lia and Amy splashing each other, and I saw Alex giving Jane a piggyback ride against her will, she was yelling “Alex! Holly shit it's cold up here, put me down!” Alex laughing threw Jane back in the water. When she came up gasping for air, she splashed his face and he swallowed a bunch of cold water then behind me Amy pushed down on my shoulders and I went under. She pushed me down hard, then I pushed my legs off the slimy ground. But when I came up and looked around I didn’t see any of my friends, I looked over to the spot where we planned to get out of the lake and saw my friend’s retreating asses. “What the hell!” I yelled, as they hurriedly put on their clothes. I swam over the shore, once I got on land I went over to the log where we put our clothes and said “Those bitches” They had taken my clothes and my towel. I looked around, I have to run to the car and hope that they are there. They weren’t, my house is a thirty-minute walk from here and it’s two AM what am I supposed to do. I walked all the way home, naked. Cursing my friends all the way. When I got home (which is in a cul-de-sac) I had to climb up onto my roof and crawl into my window. Fortunately, my parents didn’t find out. I went to sleep thinking about how mad I was at my friend's. The next day at school I at lunch I asked my friends in a whisper “What the fuck, why did you leave me? “What are you talking about?” Asked Lia “What do you mean, ‘what am I talking about’ you guys left with my clothes and towel. I had to walk all the way home” “What towel? We were all at home last night” said Jamie “Yeah” they all replied “Fuck you,” I said. I knew they were lying, they were all smiling “you guys are the worst” I said smiling too, You have to admit it was a pretty good prank, and I already thinking about how to get them back.

Most times he wondered if Jesse, Kyle, and Nick were truly his friends, and at that moment he figured they were not, in fact, true friends at all. Not only had they taken his clothes, they had also left him with no way to get home. No car, no phone, not even a map. The wind grew chillier by the minute, and his skin and hair were still dripping from his dive in the lake. It had taken them nearly forty minutes to get here by vehicle, and the last “town” they stopped at was only a gas station with two fuel pumps. He couldn’t understand how they got away so fast without him noticing, but he figured it made no difference now if he was going to freeze to death. He hoped to find civilization further down the road the opposite direction they had travelled from, maybe there were more people living around the lake hidden by the trees, and maybe he could find something to wear. Even if it was someone’s dirty laundry or a towel. Doing his best to ring out his short hair he started his trek over the bank, cursing the fact that there were more rocks than sand. He wouldn’t particularly be worried about being nude if there wasn’t the possibility of running into someone, coming down with hypothermia and getting frostbite. The sun’s heat had dissipated with the entrance of a thick cloud cover. Because of the thorns protruding from the spindly underbrush of the forest he made his way down the asphalt road, the texture scraped against the soles of his feet. Blisters were likely to appear before he found his way home. He crossed his arms over his chest with his hands clenched under his biceps to keep them warm. What nearly felt like a year, but was probably about thirty minutes, he heard the tell-tale sound of a dog yipping. Or maybe it was a coyote? He hoped not, he didn’t want to become a wild animal’s dinner, much less have to try and outrun it when he felt like a statue. Regardless, he followed the sound, hoping he’d find something of value. And something of value he found. In the backyard of a pristine cottage two kids and their dog were having a blast with a bouncy ball, their babysitter or mother was lounging in a lawn chair, paying more attention to her book than her surroundings. And he could see the line of clothes hanging outside, the wind was whipping them around like sails on a ship. He didn’t care that the only things he could fit were the too short jean overalls, neon orange t-shirt, and a pair of flowery socks. Next thing he knew he was on his back with a flushed face peering over him, scowl firmly attached to her pink lips and a furrow in her brow. “Why are you wearing my clothes? Scratch that, what are you doing on my property?” He couldn’t find any words without sounding like a pervert, so he said plainly, and almost sorry. “I was pranked and I ended up without any way to get my clothes back.” Her eyebrows shifted to her hairline, a small smile seemed to make an appearance before the scowl was firmly back into place. “Well, be that as it may, you can’t very well take my clothes, and neither can you go around naked anymore than you have already. So how about you entertain my brothers while I go find some of my dad’s old clothes?” “Okay.” Her figure was gone in the next blink of an eye and he jerked up to find the boys standing there with their little hands on their hips and scowls very similar to their sister’s etched onto their cherub faces. He swallowed and was about to ask about their game of ball when the girl returned with a stack of clothes. “Here, you might as well come in and get changed in the bathroom.” She had given him a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt paired with an undershirt, socks, and a pair of worn boots. He didn’t mind. They fit and were comfortable, as if they’d been his rather than her father’s. He returned outside. “Thank you for letting me borrow these.” Her smile warmed him quicker than the clothes. “You’re welcome. And I’m sorry about earlier.” He smiled too. “How bout we start over? I’m River.”

Ashley knew it was wrong but she felt as if she had no other choice, she had to fit in right? (She jumped into the pool) but the others didn’t follow “guys where are you..?” She looked around, nothing. Where had they gone, and more importantly where had her clothes gone ?

Zeb rose to the surface and took in a deep breath. He slung his long dark hair backwards and wiped the water from his eyes. As his vision cleared he noticed he was alone. He listened and heard the sound of his friends giggling from far away. He panicked as his eyes darted towards where his clothes were supposed to be. Not only were they gone, but his towel was gone too. If he were at home, or even one of their houses, then he could laugh about this too. Clever prank, now laugh as I fumble around naked and wet as someone tries to take humiliating pictures of me. But he wasn’t somewhere familiar. They had all broken in to the millionaire’s swimming pool at the end of the neighborhood. The pool was easy enough, they just climbed the wooden fence using a step ladder. Going back over the fence would be simple, just bring one of the nice pool chairs to the fence and jump over. The house was impossible, there were a million alarms, cameras, and every other security measure. In fact, they were almost certainly on camera in the pool, but nobody was worried about that. No, the problem was walking the half mile home completely nude and dripping wet. Every house had a doorbell camera that would watch him go by. Running could shorten the time outside but wouldn’t change the images, might even make them worse. Dave, the police officer was certain to charge him for the complaints that would be sure to come. And once he looked into why he was running through the street naked and wet he would be able to link him to the break in at the pool. His friends definitely didn’t think this through. His mom would die of humiliation and his dad would kill him. What choice did he have? There were no clothes or towels and he couldn’t get in the house. He could wait it out until dark, but the house owners were certain to be back by then. At least he was proud of his body and he was all cleaned up. So he got to work. He carried a chair to the fence and climbed over. That was more painful than expected, sitting on the fence with no shorts was awkward indeed. He was convinced he scraped his ass. Was there anywhere closer to go than his own house? His ex-girlfriend, Tara, lived only a few doors down. But her dad would kick his ass without asking any questions. He decided to avoid the street and go behind the houses and through the trees as much as possible. That would save his feet from the surprisingly hot concrete too. As he crept along he saw some little children jumping on the trampoline in their backyard. Shit, if they saw him he would look like a fucking creep. He fell down and crawled past their fence. He listened carefully as he crawled and heard no sign of them noticing him. Already he had a few scrapes, was sweating in this heat, and had dirt and grass all over his hands and knees. Things went well for the next few houses until he turned and locked eyes with Mr. Weston. He had no backyard fence, and was sitting in a lawn chair drinking. He didn’t say anything and neither did Zeb. He just walked slowly past, never breaking eye contact. Then, the barking started up. Nothing came running but now there was a clue to everyone that something was back here. Hopefully most people would ignore the alarm, but if anyone decided to investigate it could be disastrous. He was getting close to home and nothing awful had happened yet. Then, he heard it. The buzzing sound. He looked around without slowing his pace and didn’t see anything. The sound only got louder though. Eventually he looked up, and there it was. The drone. It had a camera attached and it was following him. So he ran. He thought he was lost twice, but he found his way. He ran up the back porch and banged on the sliding glass doors. He could see his friends sitting in the living room. The moment they saw him they laughed uncontrollably. They had no plans to let him in, but his mom did. She started in berating him immediately, of course. Then her phone buzzed. It was a video posted on the neighborhood watch group chat.