Chapter 11
Bright-Red Fingernails
“Now that you're feeling better, do you want to go out somewhere?” Misty asks.
“Hmmm… Well, since it's very hot outside today, we could go to a water park. Nothing too extreme—I think I'd like to float in the lazy river just so I can be outside. Maybe we can even get something to eat afterward,” I answer once I've thought about it for a few moments.
“That's a great idea! I'll need to stop by my place to get my swimsuit first though,” she remembers.
“That's fine,” I say. Then, suddenly, I remember someone else: “Hey, maybe we can also invite Cindy to come with us. I feel kind of sad because she seems a little lonely.”
“Awww, that's really kind of you. Okay, I'll call her and ask right now,” Misty says.
She gets her cell phone and dials Cindy's number. The ringing sound plays for a few seconds before she picks up.
“Hey, Misty. How's it going?”
“The two of us were just thinking of going to the water park to cool off. Would you like to come along with us? We were pretty much going to go to the lazy river,” Misty replies.
She mentions me and notes to Cindy that it was my idea to invite her.
“Sure, I'm not doing anything right now, so I can chill with you two. It'd be appropriate anyway, being that it's sooo hot today,” Cindy responds.
“That's exactly what I also said a minute ago,” I speak loud enough to make sure the phone picks it up.
“Alright, great! We'll come by to pick you up soon then. I'll text you when I'm there,” Misty says.
She grabs her purse, and we get into her car, making our way to Cindy's house. Once we're there, as promised, Misty sends Cindy a message, letting her know that we've arrived. A minute later, Cindy emerges and joins us.
“I still need to make another stop so I can grab my swimsuit,” Misty tells her.
“Oh, yeah—I made sure to bring mine with me,” Cindy comments.
The only thing left to do now is for Misty to retrieve that necessary item. Once we're at her house, Cindy and I wait in the car for a minute while she grabs her swimsuit and comes back.
“Alright, now we're all set,” Misty announces as she sits back down in the driver's seat.
⁂
We get to the water park and notice that there are a considerable number of people here. They must've all had the same idea that we did, and I wouldn't blame them one bit.
“We'll go change into our swimsuits real quick now,” Misty informs me.
I sit on a nearby bench as I wait for the pair to return. Misty comes back wearing a bright-yellow bikini. I haven't seen Cindy in a bikini yet, and she's wearing a light-blue one with dark-blue polka-dot decorations on it. They are both unquestionably stunning.
“How do we look?” Misty asks playfully, knowing how sexy I think she is.
“You two are definitely the hottest babes around here!” I tell Misty and Cindy, with the two responding in laughter along with me.
“Awww, thanks, love. You always have the sweetest compliments,” Misty replies.
“No one's ever told me something like that before…” Cindy says, with a cute blush becoming visible on her cheeks.
“Really? No one's ever told you that you're hot? That just ain't right,” I respond, surprised. “Now let's find where the lazy river is at,” I suggest.
After some walking around and exploring our surroundings, we find the ride we're seeking. There are inner tubes lying all around near the perimeter of the pool, and each of the three of us takes one. They're all translucent and available in a multitude of colors. I find an orange one, Misty finds a pink one, and Cindy finds a red one.
“Orange, pink, and red are three colors that look really good together,” I comment.
“Definitely!” Misty says.
“I agree—they're all very vibrant,” Cindy echoes.
Before we get in, we also remember that we should apply sunscreen—very important in this heat. That's when Misty and I realize that we both forgot to bring ours.
“That's okay. I brought mine, so you two can use some of it,” Cindy offers Misty and me when we tell her.
“Good thing you came prepared,” I remark.
“Cindy to the rescue!” Misty says, giggling.
Once we're finished with that, we're all set. Finally, we enter the ride's current by placing the inner tubes onto the surface and riding on top of them. It's very relaxing being pulled along at a leisurely pace by the pool, with the sun shining above and the scenery of the water park all around. However, one challenge, as we soon discover, is staying together and not getting separated gradually by the current. After enjoying ourselves silently for a while, we begin having a conversation.
“Hey, have you guys heard of the phone coming out that's going to have a night-vision camera built in?” Cindy asks.
“Oh, that sounds really cool. I didn't know about that actually,” Misty replies.
“I've been saying for years that they should do that,” I say. “Also, another thing that phones have been missing is a decent battery. Even now, as far as those things have come, the batteries are still pitiful,” I add.
“Yeah, I definitely hear you on that one. I used to have a phone that I had to charge twice every day—that's how bad the battery life was on it. The current phone I have needs to be charged once a day, which isn't that much better,” Cindy responds.
“It's so annoying to have to be near a charger all the time,” Misty comments.
The three of us continue talking for a while about all of the good and bad things about current technology. Once we've made several full revolutions around the lazy river, we decide that we're bored of it and proceed to get out, drying ourselves off.
“I'm kinda hungry… Do you guys wanna get some tacos?” Misty asks.
“Sure, babe. Tacos sound good,” I answer.
“I'm actually also a little hungry, now that you mention it. I could go for some tacos,” Cindy says.
Misty and Cindy return to their normal clothing of T-shirts and shorts before we all get into Misty's car and head out to grab our lunch, arriving at the taco place in just a few minutes. Misty agrees to order the tacos for us so that Cindy and I can find a table to sit at. Luckily for us, there aren't so many people to the point where finding a vacant spot is an issue. We choose to sit near a window so that we can admire the sunlit view outside.
“So… I heard you were sick recently,” Cindy says to me while we're in the middle of waiting.
“Yeah, I wasn't feeling well; I had a cold or something like that,” I respond.
“How are you feeling now?” she asks sympathetically.
As I'm about to begin answering the question, Misty approaches carrying our tacos, which look and smell appetizing.
“Oh, I'm feeling much better today thanks to Misty's care,” I answer.
“Yeah, I could tell he was feeling pretty bad at first,” Misty jumps in. She turns to me and adds, “I'm so happy that you're feeling well enough today to go somewhere with me. Cindy too.”
“I really appreciate you inviting me to come along like this,” Cindy thanks me sincerely.
“Hey, you're my friend, and that's what good friends do for each other.”
At this point, we begin eating. We have six crunchy tacos—two for each of the three of us. As I bite into the crunchy shell of one of my tacos, a little bit of the ground beef, lettuce, and cheddar cheese spill out. Delicious as these things are, they sure are kind of messy. At least that stuff landed on the plastic tray in front of me instead of my shirt. In addition to the tacos, Misty also got a medium-sized drink cup for each of us to fill with our beverage of choice. I decide to get Pepsi, Misty gets Coca-Cola, and Cindy gets Sprite.
Our meal is finished once our tacos are consumed and our cups are empty. We stay for a little while longer and chat some more about the events of these last few days before leaving. Misty then drives Cindy back to her home, dro
pping her off there.
“Bye! See you later,” Cindy says, waving to us.
I'm not sure if I'm imagining things again, but I think I also just saw Cindy blow a kiss for me when I looked at her.
“I think I'd like to stay with you tonight. Would that be okay?” I ask Misty as the car begins moving.
“Sure, hon!” she says excitedly. After a few seconds, she adds, “I have this new pasta recipe I've been meaning to try for dinner sometime, but I'll need to go to the grocery store tomorrow to get a few ingredients I need for that.”
“Sounds great. If it's anything like your mashed potatoes, then I'm sure it'll be delicious,” I say in anticipation.
⁂
Once we get back to Misty's house, I take a seat on the couch, and Misty joins me shortly afterward. I wrap my arms around her, and she rests her head lovingly on my shoulder. I hold both of her hands in mine and rub her palms with my thumbs.
“I had a such a great time with you today at the water park, sweetie,” she says.
“It was really nice just being out in the sun with you, floating along on the lazy river, talking about anything.” She gives me a tiny kiss on the cheek, to which I say, “Awww, babe—that was such an adorable little kiss.”
“I will always have a special kiss just for you,” Misty replies.
I pull my blonde angel even closer, shutting my eyes, and we stay in our relaxing embrace for several minutes.
“I think I'm gonna do my nails now and then maybe we can watch some TV together,” Misty says.
“Ooo, I have an idea: Can I help you paint those pretty fingernails of yours?” I ask, looking into her eyes.
“I think that'd be fun! I can show you how to do it,” she responds, smiling at me.
Misty takes me by the hand into the kitchen, and I sit down at the table while she gets her box of nail polish from within a pull-out drawer. After looking at it for a moment, she calls me over.
“Come help me choose a nice color, baby.”
I stand up and come over to her. With the lid still on, I peer through the transparent plastic box and see a variety of colors—mostly various shades of red, pink, and purple, along with a few standard colors, like white and silver.
“Well, let's bring the box over here and take a closer look,” I suggest.
Misty brings it over to the big table and takes the lid off, giving a better overview of the available options. I scan through all of them, briefly picking up a few potential colors to see them better before setting them back down. Ultimately, I decide on one of the shades of red that has extra glitter added to it.
“This bright red would be perfect for a glamorous beauty like you,” I declare.
“I like that one too!”
Ready to begin showing me how to apply the nail polish, Misty sets the box to the side so that it doesn't get in our way, loosely placing the lid over it. She takes the polish and rolls the container back and forth in her hands, holding it vertically.
“First, I'm rolling it like this to make sure there won't be any air bubbles in it,” she explains to me.
Next, I observe as she opens the bottle, dips the brush into it, and begins applying a thin coat onto the nail of her index finger.
“You want to get a nice bead of polish on the brush so that it can spread out over the nail more easily for you.” I watch as she demonstrates the motion of swiping the brush left, right, and then down the center of the nail, finishing with, “Just like that. Now you try!”
“I'll give it a shot,” I say as Misty hands me the brush and bottle.
I move my chair closer to hers and take her hand. Working carefully, I do my best to repeat the process, just like she showed me, on the nail of her thumb.
“You're doing great. Keep going!” Misty encourages me as I finish painting another fingernail.
Once I'm finished with all of the fingers on one hand, I move on to the other, and after a few minutes, I finish painting all of Misty's fingernails.
“There we go, beautiful. All done. Do you like the way it looks?” I ask, kissing the back of her hand.
“It's perfect. You did a wonderful job!” she replies. Misty closes the nail-polish bottle and stores it back in the box, resealing the container with the lid. “Now what I usually like to do is run some cold water over my hands to help it dry faster.”
At the sink, she turns the cold-water knob and places her hands under the running stream. I come up to Misty and hug her from behind. I feel her shiver slightly because of the water's temperature. I reach out, my hands joining hers as I start playing with her fingers.
“Mmm… I love you, baby,” Misty says, giggling and turning her head slightly toward me, looking at me with the corner of her eye.
“I love you too, adorable,” I reply, planting a light kiss on her cheek.
Once she's finished using the sink, she twists the knob clockwise to shut the water off and then turns around completely so that we're facing each other, our eyes now fully able to meet. Her bright-red fingernails glistening with freshly applied nail polish, she presses her hands right up against my chest.