Willow's Struggle

Swimming

    I didn't wake up until nearly 10:00 the next morning.  I was surprised when I rolled over and Jackson was already up and nowhere in sight.  I grabbed my cellphone and checked the time.  Nearly jumping out of the bed, I grabbed some clean clothes and my bag of toiletries, then ran to the bathroom.  After I took a quick shower, I pulled my hair into a messy bun and got dressed.  When I walked out of the bathroom, Jackson was still nowhere in sight.  I made my way downstairs and heard his voice coming from the other room.

    I followed his voice and found him in the kitchen, sitting at the island with his cellphone glued to his ear.  I quietly walked over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.  He smiled at me as he stood up, then reached his hand behind my neck and pulled my face to his so that he could give me a kiss.  When he sat back down, he said, "Sorry bro, I was giving my girl a good morning kiss."  He was still eyeing me and decided to give me a wink.  

    I winked back at him, then started opening the cabinets until I found the coffee cups.  I poured myself a cup of coffee and added a little sugar and cream, then sat down beside Jackson.  He was still chatting on the phone, but his eyes were staying fixed on me.  Finally I heard him tell the person on the phone, "bye."  As soon as he set the phone down on the counter, he turned to me and excitedly said, "That was the producers.  They are getting ready to board their plane, so they will definitely be at your gig tonight."

    I squealed as I threw my arms around him and gave him a firm hug as I excitedly said, "Thank you, Jackson."

    He chuckled as he hugged me back and replied, "You are most welcome, cutie."  Before he pulled away from the hug, he gave me a lingering kiss on my cheek.  

    While we were hugging, I heard my phone ping.  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and unlocked the screen to see a message from Skylar letting me know that she was leaving her house to head my way.  I smiled at the thought of hanging out with her.  Jackson must have noticed the smile, because he asked, "Who put that beautiful smile on your face."

    "Skylar is on her way," I cheerfully responded.

    "Ah, I see why you are smiling like that.  You two are really close, huh?" he replied thoughtfully.

    "Yes, we are as close, if not closer, than most sisters.   We met in preschool and have been basically inseparable since," I explained.

    "That is a long time to stay friends.  I see now why you care about each other so much.  When she is at work and you aren't, she is always talking about you, saying nothing but nice things, of course," he responded while smiling wistfully.

    "What about you?  Do you have a bestfriend back home?" I asked.

    "I did, but we had a falling out about a year ago," he said nonchalantly.

    "Oh, that's a bummer.  What happened?" I replied.

    "It was over some stupid girl.  He thought I was trying to steal his girlfriend, but I wasn't.  I was helping her younger brother practice pitching for his upcoming softball game," he said sadly as he frowned.

    "Well I guess it's his loss," I deadpanned, earning a chuckle from him.  

    He was now smiling again as he responded, "Yes it is, but I am glad everything happened the way it did, because if we hadn't quit hanging out, I probably wouldn't have moved here and met you."

    I reached my hand up and cupped his cheek in my palm.  He leaned into it and smiled even wider.  "You always say the nicest things."  He leaned toward me and placed a soft kiss on my lips, but before we could deepen the kiss, we heard a knock on the door.  

    Knowing it was Skylar, I jumped up and ran to the door.  When I opened the door, she immediately hugged me, then said, "This place is huge."

    Jackson chuckled behind me as I cheerfully replied, "It is, now get in here so we can practice."

    She quickly walked inside and looked around with a look of awe plastered on her face.  She followed us to the kitchen, where I quickly finished my coffee, then set the cup in the sink.  I looked over at Skylar and smirked as I said, "Follow me."  I led her upstairs to Jackson's room and grabbed my notebook and acoustic guitar.  "Do you want to practice inside or outside?" I asked.  

    "We'll be outside swimming later, so I say we practice inside.  It's really humid out there today," she said as she scrunched up her nose.  Ugh, humidity can be the worst on an already hot summer day.  The joys of living in Indiana.  Hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.  

    Spring and fall are nice around here though.  When the dogwoods and red buds bloom in the spring, as the leaves are starting to grow on the trees, along with the Easter lilies and tulips brings color to the outside surroundings.  After the humid summers, we go into fall, when the leaves on the trees change to vibrant red, orange and yellow colors.  Sometimes I like to get in my car and drive through forested areas just to admire the beauty of those colors mixing together.  

    After we walked back downstairs, we sat down on the couch in the living room.  Jackson had stayed in the kitchen, but when he heard us laughing in the living room, he joined us and sat beside me on the couch.  After we joked around for a little bit about our humid weather, we practiced our duet for a few hours, making just a few slight changes.  

    When we were satisfied, Skylar ran out to her car to grab her bikini.  When she came back in, we all walked up to Jackson's room.  He grabbed a pair of swimming trunks, then said, "I'll change in one of the other rooms, that way you ladies can have your privacy."  

    As he was leaving the room, Skylar exclaimed, "He's so sweet."  I could hear Jackson chuckling as he walked down the hall.  I quickly shut the door, then went to my bag and pulled out my flowery bikini.  After I had the bikini on and tied tight enough to be confident it wouldn't show anything I didn't want it to, I looked over at Skylar who was also now wearing her own bikini.  The bikini she chose was dark blue with white polka dots.  "Ready?" she asked.

    "As ready as I can be," I replied as I winked at her.

    She locked her arm with mine and headed to the door.  As soon as we got downstairs, Jackson was looking at his phone screen.  When he looked up at us, his jaw dropped as he stared at me.  His eyes ran up and down my body twice before he licked his bottom lip, then said, "Damn you look f*****g sexy."

    I giggled as we walked closer to him.  "You are looking pretty damn sexy, too," I replied before I winked.  

    He got up and led us out the backdoor.  Immediately I saw a big underground pool with a diving board at the deep end.  There were several lawn chairs and two different tables with big umbrellas shading them from the sunlight.  As we walked across the porch, I noticed a decent sized hot tub to the right.  I would have to get Jackson to sit in that one of these evenings, I thought to myself.

    When we got to the pool, Skylar ran to the diving board and jumped in right away.  I giggled then looked over at Jackson, who was staring at me with his eyes full of lust.  I grabbed his hand and walked over to the shallow end.  We walked into the water together and instantly goose bumps formed all over my body.  The water wasn't freezing, but it was cooler than the hot summer air around us.  

    Once the water got to my waist, I let go of Jackson's hand and dove into the water.  I swam almost to the other end while still under the water.  I swam with my head above water the rest of the way to the deep end.  Skylar was happily swimming laps around the pool with a smile lighting her face.  She has loved to swim as long as I've known her.

    A few seconds later, Jackson popped out of the water right in front of me.  I had my elbows resting on the edge of the pool.  Jackson held onto the edge with one hand as he asked, "Wanna race to the other end."

    I smirked as I replied, "Sure, on the count of three."  He nodded before he counted to three.  Using my feet to push off the side of the pool, I dove under and swiftly glided through the water.

    When I got to the other end, I looked for Jackson and saw him as he popped up in front of me again.  He smiled as he said, "Damn you're a fast swimmer."

    I giggled as he pulled me into his arms and hugged me close to him.  As I hugged him back, he reached his hands down and pulled my legs up.  I wrapped them around his hips as he walked us a little deeper into the water.  I had my arms over his shoulders and gently held my hands on the back of his neck.  Once we were almost to the middle of the pool, he ducked his head down and kissed my neck a few times before he mumbled, "You are so gorgeous."

    He slowly raised his head, then gazed into my eyes before he smashed his lips to mine.  We passionately kissed until we had to pull apart for air.  Once we got our breathing back under control, we swam over to Skylar who had her head resting on the side of the pool while her arms stretched to the sides of her head.  She looked happy and peaceful.  When we got over to her, I asked, "Hey, do you want to play Marco and Polo or something?"

    She opened her eyes and lazily smiled at me before she replied, "Sounds like fun to me."  We played that for a while, then raced back a forth across the pool a few times, before we decided we should get showered and ready for the gig.  After Skylar got her clothes and make-up from her car, Jackson led her to the room across from his and offered for her to use that shower, then came back to his room where I was pulling out my clothes that had I chosen for tonight.

    He leaned against his doorframe as he asked, "Do you mind if I join you again?"

    I shrugged as I responded, "Sure."  

    He chuckled as he followed me to his bathroom.  Once we got in there, he immediately turned the faucet on to let the water heat up.  He untied the strings of my bikini before he undressed himself.  When we stepped under the warm water, the goose bumps that had formed from being cold, immediately started to disappear.  He wrapped his arms around me as he said, "I am more than happy to help you warm up."

    I giggled as I returned the hug and said, "I am sure you would love that."

    He kissed my cheek before he brought his lips to mine.  Instantly I tangled my fingers into his hair and deepened the kiss.  He turned us and pinned my back against the wall of the shower as one of his hands squeezed my ass and the other one massaged my breast.  Using the pad of his thumb and the side of his finger, he rolled my n****e between them making me moan and kiss him with more urgency.  I was dripping wet in more ways than one, but the time we pulled apart from the intense make out session.

    Once we were done washing our hair and bodies, we turned the water off and started drying off.  After I had dried my body, I flipped my hair over and was drying it when I felt Jackson's hands grip my waist before he said, "You have the nicest ass I have ever seen."

    I giggled before I curved my back just right to make my ass stick out a little more as I lifted my body back up flipping my hair back in the process.  He groaned as he pulled me back against the front of his body.  He brought his lips up to my ear and whispered, "I want to touch your sexy body everywhere."

    I shivered before I replied, "Sorry, s*x God, but we don't have enough time right now, but maybe later."

    "I am going to hold you to that one," he huskily replied before he kissed my ear, then let me go.  

    Once we were both dressed, I went looking for Skylar.  I found her sitting in the living room playing on her phone.  When she heard me enter, she looked up and asked, "Are you ready for me to make you look like a star?"

    I smiled at her fondly as I said, "I am ready if you are."

    She squealed as she jumped up and exclaimed, "I am always ready to play with your fun curls."  I shook my head at my silly friend, wondering how she could find it so fun.  My curls piss me off on a daily basis, but she could play with my hair for hours and not get one bit aggravated.  I swear she should be the one with these curls instead of me.  

    When we got back to Jackson's room, she grabbed all of her hair and make-up stuff while I grabbed mine.  She laid everything out on the counter and plugged in her curling iron.  She poured a glob of hair gel into the palm of her hand and started playing with it while she made jokes about the slime from movies.  When she started singing the theme song from the Ghostbusters movies, I started giggling making her giggle while still singing.   When Jackson peeked in to see what we were laughing about, he smirked at us giggling like two school girls while Skylar sang and pulled some of the gel up using her fingers.

    When she was finished singing, she started scrunching the gel into my thick curls.  She positioned the curls so that a few were hanging down on the right side of my face, while the left side was pinned back slightly with a glittery hair clip.  

    As soon as she was done with my hair, she moved on to my make-up.  For my eyeshadow on the upper eyelid, she applied a shiny teal to the lower section and a shiny gold to the top section.  In the crease she added a medium dark purple.  On my lower eyelid, she applied a thin line of black eyeliner, and a tiny bit of the gold eyeshadow.  She added a layer of mascara to my eyelashes and a light pink blush to my cheeks.  For my lips, she chose a rose pink lipstick paired with a darker shade of pink lip liner.

    When she was done with me, I added my gold hoop earrings and my choker.  I looked in the mirror and was very pleased with my appearance.  I was wearing my black skirt that subtly flared out with a dark blue and purple striped tank top.  

    I looked over at Skylar and admired how pretty she looked.  Using the curling iron, she gave herself soft curls that she had pinned up on the sides with glittery clips that both had a single light pink rose. 

    She was wearing a light pink dress.  The straps were a thick strip of pearly satin.  The top was made of the same pearly satin material and the bottom was made of two layers with the bottom being the satin material and the top being a soft lace material with swirl patterns.  At the waist was a strip of the pearly satin material that tied in the back.  It was a beautiful dress.

    She had applied a light shiny pink eyeshadow on her upper and lower eyelids, with a darker pink in the crease.  She had a thin line of black eyeliner on both of her eyelids and a thick layer of mascara on her eyelashes.  She used a rosy pink blush and applied the same lipstick and lipliner that she had used on me.  She had made both of our faces look flawless and I could see a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at us in the mirror.  "We look so beautiful," she whispered.

    I gave her a quick side hug as I exclaimed, "And it's all because of you."

    She giggled as she started putting everything back in the bags with me helping.  When we had everything packed back up except for the curling iron, we walked back into Jackson's bedroom.  As soon as Jackson looked up from his phone, he whistled then said, "You ladies look fabulous."

    We both beamed a smile at him then did a little curtsy making him chuckle.  It was something we used to always do for my mom and Skylar's parents whenever we would be getting ready for a school dance or something.  After we set our bags down, I put on my black high heels and Skylar put on her light pink high heels.  We were dressed to impress and I was confident we were going to blow our fans minds tonight.