Hula dancing and Malibu I guess I told you that when I was little, my family lived in Hawaii for a few years. It was so long ago I don't really remember it all that well, but there was this one girl I went to school with - Erika, her name was - and we were pretty close. Her family was Japanese American, and they lived nearby, so sometimes I'd go over to her place to play, or she'd come to my house. Both our families knew each other pretty well. Even after my family moved back to Japan, I think I got a couple of letters from her, but after that, I didn’t hear from her for a long time. Then, a few years ago, after I moved here to California, my dad wrote me to say that they'd gotten an email from Erika's parents. Apparently, they'd mentioned that Erika would come to Los Angeles every once in a while, not too far from where I'm living now. My dad gave me her email address, and I wrote to her, and she wrote right back. She was all excited to hear I was living in California and said we should get together next time she went to L.A. It turns out she'd joined some kind of hula dance troupe at her college, and the whole group of them come to L.A. every summer to perform in a folk dance festival. She invited me to come watch, and so I said sure. I'd seen hula dancing before in Hawaii when I lived there, but I thought that was so funny that Erika had gotten into it. I guess the two of us used to be the shy ones in our class, the "good girls," so I never imagined she'd get into something like that. I guessed it must be pretty embarrassing to do that kind of thing, getting dressed up in a grass skirts, and swirling your hips all around. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but some of the Hawaiian guy dancers get really into it, beating their bare chests and jumping all over the place. Mainly though I was looking forward to seeing Erika again, and hearing about what she'd been up to. Anyway, I headed up to L. A. on the train, and eventually I found the community centre where they were performing. It was a nice building, sort of like a concert hall or a theatre. When I walked in, all these dancers up on the stage looked over at me. I explained I was a friend of Erika’s, and someone went, and got her out of the back. She looked like a real hula dancer, all dressed up in her grass skirt and seashell bra. She came right over, and gave me a big hug. “It’s so great to see you again, Emi. If I’d known you were in California, I'd have tried to get in touch sooner. You haven't changed a bit. What have you been doing with yourself all these years?” Erika seemed so much more outgoing than I remembered her. I guess we were a lot younger then. She introduced me to the other members of her troupe: Kaila, Keanu, Hale and some others I can't remember. Erika's boss let her take a break, and we went back to their change room, so she could get changed into her street clothes. I noticed right away that there were guy's clothes hanging on hooks on the walls. "What are those doing here?" "Oh, the clothes you mean? We share the changing room," she said calmly. I just stared at her, so surprised that guys and girls would share the same change room. "It works out alright. Most of the time, they wait, and let us change before they come in." "Most of the time?" "Oh, it's not like you're thinking. They're gentlemen really." I still thought it would be pretty embarrassing to share a changing room with guys. Anyway, we went out, got a drink, and talked about Honolulu and California and what we'd been up to since last we met. Soon though, she had to get back. We went back to the hall, and I sat in the audience, and watched while they practiced. I was so surprised because they were all really good. Erika was smiling away, twirling her hips, and waving her hands in the air like a real hula dancer. The guys were really hamming it up. They came right out to where I was sitting, and bounced all around beating their chests, trying to get me to laugh I guess. Keanu was kind of cute I thought. He reminded me a bit of some of the guys who'd been in my class when we lived in Honolulu. I hadn't thought about them for ages. That was a weird time for us because my family and I didn't really speak English at all then. Now that I think of it though, I guess it was kind of fun though living there. I'd like to go back some day. Once they were done practicing, we all went out to supper together. At night, they performed for a big audience while I watched from offstage. After the show, Erika, the other dancers and I all headed back to their hotel. On the bus, Keanu and Hale sat right near us. They were acting up pretending they were Japanese and stuff. At first, I didn't know quite what to make of them and their silly stunts, but Erika was killing herself laughing, so I sat back and tried to enjoy it. I guess they were pretty funny. Their "hotel" was sort of like a youth hostel with bunk beds and eight people to a room. Erika managed to find some extra bedding for me, and then we - the girls I mean - all headed off to shower in the communal washroom. I felt a little self-conscious taking off my clothes in front of all these complete strangers, and then showering together. They all had deep tans except where their bikinis were, but I was still pretty white from studying inside so much. A girl named Kaila started singing a Hawaiian song while she showered. I couldn't understand the words, but it sounded kind of sad. Erika and the others joined in and pretty soon they were all dancing there in the shower room. I think the story was that Kaila's boyfriend had gone out to sea, and it was a song praying for his safe return. There was something vaguely sensual, erotic even, about her movements. It made me think of my boyfriend Ryosuke, and I wondered what he was doing. Once we were done showering, we all wrapped our towels around us, and headed back to our room. Keanu and Hale peeked out from their door as we passed their room on the way back to ours. They'd obviously been listening, and they clapped, and whistled as we walked by. "Next time, invite us in, and we'll dance with you," Hale joked. Kaila swatted him on the head, but then he grabbed her towel, and almost pulled it right off. Erika hit his arm, and got him to let go, and then we all ran back to our room before they went after the rest of us. We were all breathing heavily and giggling, happy to have gotten away. "I think he has a crush on you," Erika said to Kaila. "I think I'm going to hold out for a better class of guy," Kaila answered. She took off her towel to dry her hair. She did have an enviable body. Her tummy was so flat, from dancing all the time I guess, and her breasts were pretty big, bigger than mine anyway. I took off my own towel, and compared my body to hers. I did look kind of pale by comparison, but my skin was probably softer and more hairless, except for... well, you know where. I ran my fingers through my hair down there, trying to brush out the wetness. "What kind of guys are there in Oceanview?" Erika asked. I still hadn't told her about my boyfriend Ryosuke. "I know a couple of Japanese guys I could introduce you to," I said thinking of Futoshi and Kenta. "They're rich... richer than me anyway." "Rich is good," Kaila joked. Suddenly, we heard someone pounding on the door, scaring the daylights out of me. I wrapped my towel back around me, as we all looked that way. "What are you gals gabbing about? Are you talking about me?" It was Hale again. "Go away. Got to sleep for heaven's sake," Erika shouted back. Eventually, the boys settled down, and went away. We all went to sleep. The next morning, we went back to the community center fro more practice. Someone came to talk to the director, so we were all just kind of standing there. As a joke, I started imitating some of their dance moves, but then Hale and the other guys started clapping and cheering me on. "Wow, Emi, you're great. Here, maybe someone can get you an outfit, and we can teach you," Hale gushed. I felt so embarrassed, but one of the girls found me a spare outfit, and I went to try it on. I felt really weird when I tried on the grass skirt. You could kind of see my panties between the blades of grass. I tried on the seashell bra too, but it was a bit too small for my liking. You could see almost my whole breast. Erika agreed I couldn't walk around with my panties showing, so she lent me a thong like the ones they wear. "Not so long ago, I guess girls wore nothing at all under their skirts," she said smiling. I shot her a look wondering if she was actually suggesting I go out with no panties on. Hale came back to check on us though, so we had to change the subject. We all went back out, and the other dancers all cheered, and laughed when they saw me in my hula skirt and bra. "What's wrong?" "No, you look great," Keanu beamed. "You should join our troupe." I looked down feeling a bit self-conscious, but eventually, they started up the music, and I practiced with them for a bit. It was a lot of fun, but anyway, it was pretty obvious I'd have to practice a whole lot more if I really wanted to be in one of their shows. They were really nice about it though, saying I was a natural and stuff like that. The next day, I had to go back to Oceanview. I said goodbye to them all, and promised to come down to see them the next summer when they came back to L.A. Erika and I kept in touch over the winter, and she kept me up to date on all the stuff that was going on in Honolulu. The next summer, I went down to see them again, bringing Futoshi, Kenta and my friend Satomi with me. I invited Futoshi because he has a car, and the others just sort of tagged along because they wanted to see L.A. Ryosuke was too busy though to come with us. When we got to L.A., I introduced them to Erika and the others and we sat watching them practice. Futoshi and Kenta really enjoyed watching Erika and them, but Satomi seemed embarrassed by it all. After, we all went out to supper together, and Kenta and Hale really hit it off, talking about F1 car races or something like that. There was some race or something nearby the next day they wanted to go see. Erika and the rest of us wanted to go see Malibu though, and Futoshi agreed to drop us off first. Erika said she'd always wanted to go to Malibu. Apparently, that's where Leonard DiCaprio, Bill Murray and a whole bunch of other stars live. That night in the hostel, Hale and Keanu came to our room, and they were talking with Kenta, while Satomi and I went to the showers. When we got back, Satomi asked them to leave so we could get changed. Futoshi pulled Kenta off his bed, and they all went out in the hall. Satomi locked the door behind them. As soon as we were alone, I took off my towel, and started drying my hair with it. I went over to the window, and leaned over to look out. Our room was just above the parking lot. I'd always wanted to stay in a big hotel in the city. I leaned so far forward that my bare nipples brushed against the cool glass giving me the shivers. As usual, Satomi told me to cut it out. "Here, hurry up, and put on your nightie. The guys are waiting." I reluctantly got my nightie out of my bag, and pulled it on. It is kind of all white frilly lace, and the hem doesn't really go down much past my waist. As a joke, I walked over to the door without putting my bottoms on, and pretended I was going to open it. Satomi grabbed me though, and pulled me back, making me put on my shorts too. Once I was all ready, we let Futoshi and Kenta back in. They both smiled when they saw my nightie. It's not exactly see-through, but it is kind of risque I guess. I just kind of smiled and enjoyed the attention. Satomi and Futoshi are the early risers, so we let them have the bottom bunks. I climbed up the ladder, and got all tucked in, and then we all went to sleep. The next morning, the strangest thing happened. I woke up, and I suddenly realized I didn't have my shorts on anymore. I know this sounds crazy, but I guess I must have taken them off while I was asleep. This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I guess I've done the same thing a few times before. I think I must be having dreams where I take off my clothes, except I must actually do it in real life too. Don't you ever have things like that where you wake up from a dream and find out the same thing is happening in real life? Anyway, usually I just find my bottoms, and pull them back on, but when I started feeling around for them under the sheets, I couldn't find them. Kenta was still sleeping on the top bunk across from me. Futoshi and Satomi weren't there, but the door was wide open. I tried wrapping one of the sheets around my waist, but I couldn't really get it to stay. I looked over at Kenta again, and deciding he was probably still sound asleep, I quietly slipped down to the floor still half naked, and shut the door. My heart was thumping in my chest. I kneeled down to look for my shorts, and finally spotted them under the bed way at the back. I lay on my stomach, and reached in to get them, but suddenly, I heard a key in the door. Oh oh! There I was caught like an ostrich with my head under my bed, my bare bum still sticking out, and my legs spread way apart. "What on earth are you doing?" Satomi hissed at me, having a complete bird. I quickly grabbed my shorts, and backed out from under the bed. "Shhh! You'll wake Kenta up," I whispered as I got back up, really panicking that I might get caught again. We both looked over at him, but luckily, he is a pretty sound sleeper. "Quick! Close the door!" Satomi went back, and shut it before Futoshi came in. I brushed the dust off my shorts, but I swear I almost jumped out of my skin when someone knocked on the door. "Just a minute," I called out. My voice must have awoken Kenta, because he started rustling around in his bed. I sat down on Futoshi's bunk, underneath Kenta's to hide, and desperately tried to straighten out my shorts, so I could get them on. Satomi looked absolutely frantic. I got fed up trying to untangle my shorts. "Oh this is silly. They've both seen me naked before," I mumbled, remembering the time we'd played strip poker together. "Just hurry up," Satomi whispered. I finally got my shorts right side out, and pulled them on. "Good morning," Kenta said sleepily, sticking his head out from above just as I pulled the shorts all the way up. That was one of the closest calls I'd had in a while, but luckily, I got away with it again. Once we were all ready, Futoshi drove Satomi, Erika, Kaila and I to Malibu. It was a bit different from what I was expecting. They had these little surf shops and a couple of malls, a lot like the ones in Oceanview. It didn't really seem like a place where rich people hang out. We had lunch, and then went to look for the beach. We found one public kind of beach, but Erika said we could go to where the stars all live, and use their beach. We walked past all these big fancy houses. Erika got her guidebook and we looked for the houses of Richard Gere, Mel Gibson and Jeff Bridges, but we couldn't really figure out who lived where. Eventually, we found the pathway that leads down to the shore, right next to this big country estate. The beach itself was pretty nice with soft sand and trees, and there didn't really seem to be anyone else around. I thought it would be so nice to live in a place like this, although I guess it must be really expensive. We walked along the shore till we found this quiet spot in the shade of some trees. Erika and Kaila took off their clothes, and they had their swimsuits on underneath. They called for us to hurry up, but first Satomi and I had to figure out where to change. There was no washrooms or anything nearby. Behind us, there was what must have been someone's backyard. I peered off into the trees trying to see if I could see their house. It looked like no one was there, and Erika and Kaila were already down in the water splashing each other and yelling for us to hurry up. I looked around some more, but there really didn't seem to be anyone else around, so I undid the drawstring on my shorts, and slid my hands into the waistband. Satomi was looking over at me nervously. I quickly pulled my shorts and panties off, and then sat back down on my towel, while I straightened them out. I was trying to stay calm, but the feeling of the towel on my bare bum was getting me all excited again. I lifted my t-shirt up to take a peek at my pussy. I don't know why but I was so turned on I was already getting wet. I wanted so much to just take off my t-shirt, and run down to the water in the nude. I knew Satomi would freak, but maybe Erika and Kaila wouldn't get that upset. There are probably nude beaches in Hawaii too, and maybe they'd been. They certainly had deep tans. I got up on my knees, enjoying the feeling of the cool sea breeze on my privates. Satomi shot me one of her looks. "What are you doing?" "Wondering if I could get away with taking off my t-shirt, and going skinny-dipping." At that point, I don't think I'd ever been skinny-dipping except at the nude beach in Oceanview once or twice. "This isn't the nude beach, you know?" "I know. But there's no one else here." Satomi brought a towel over, and wrapped it around my waist. "You should be more careful. You can't just walk around nude everywhere." I felt a bit frustrated, but I ended up putting on my swimsuit, partly because I was embarrassed, partly to please Satomi, but also till I found out more about how Erika and Kaila felt about these things. Once I was dressed, I helped Satomi get changed by holding a towel up around her. We went in swimming for a while, and then when we got tired and came back up on shore, I finally got up the nerve to ask them. "Have you guys ever been to a nude beach?" Erika looked at me, a bit surprised. Kaila didn't say anything, but she had obviously perked up a bit and was sitting there waiting to see what Erika would say. "No. Have you?" Erika asked back. "Yeah, Satomi and I have once... in Oceanview." Satomi looked down, acutely embarrassed that I'd told them. She wants everyone to think she is such a goody two shoes, but I knew better. Erika started looking over at Kaila to see what she would say. "Yeah, I have too. Just once though," Kaila admitted. "Really?" Erika looked at her, even more surprised. "It was no big deal. This guy I was seeing wanted to go. It wasn't that bad. It was clothing optional so I mostly just kept my bottoms on." "Mostly?" Erika guffawed. "What's the beach in Oceanview like?" Kaila asked. "Mostly guys," Satomi blurted out. "Yeah, we both stripped right down to our bare scuddies, and these two guys came over, and were staring at us," I told them. "You went all nude," Erika exclaimed. "Yeah," I admitted. "Wow!" "Do you guys want to come? Maybe next summer or something?" I suggested. Erika didn't look so keen, but Kaila was willing. "Anyway, we can talk about it more later." After that, there was kind of a weird tension in the air, so I suggested we go back in swimming. After a while, we came back out, put on our cover-ups and walked back to town for supper. I changed back into my clothes in the washrooms at the restaurant, and the others did the same. After supper, Futoshi came to pick us up. We dropped Erika and Kaila off at their hotel, and said goodbye. I want to tell you about their visit the next summer, but this is getting pretty long, so I think I'll stop here for now. I'll try to write again soon. Till then, take care.