Maryl walked into the baths, her heart hammering in her chest. It wasn’t the idea of the scalding hot water that scared her though. The resort’s reputation was enough to ensure her that the water would be more than fine.
No, she was scared because of the controversial rule that this place had refused to ever change. Supposedly, this was due to the hotel originally only being a bathhouse, back when the town at the base of this mountain was barely able to be called a village. As time passed, and people populated the valley though, the owners wouldn’t change with them, claiming that the only real way you could enjoy the water was if you w-were n-na-
Naked. And you were not allowed to dare enter with even a shred of cloth on.
Maryl clutched at her towel, and tried to blame the heat for the sweat that ran down the back of her neck. She had heard tales about this place her whole life, and that only made this harder. How it was so easy to relax, how her friends never knew a time when they had been able to get closer than in here, and how breathtaking the natural baths were. It had been built up to be this one of a kind place, and looking around, Maryl didn’t think they were wrong.
There were modern touches, to help people enjoy the place as they pleased This ranged from benches along the walls, to rails that led into the water, in case you were worried about slipping. But that was it.
Within the mountain, you had a perfect spring. It’s water, warmed from within, sprang out of the rocks about fifty feet up. Strong enough to fill the place with the melody of a waterfall, but gentle enough to stand under, it rush down her, into the pools. Surrounding the warm beds of water was more, gray stone, but to enthusiasts like Maryl, there was more. Much more. She could see the flecks of silver left in the rocks, glinting in the noonday sun. Where the rocks had oxidized, or where earthquakes had shifted them, she could see lines of red and green that filled the floor with colors, faint enough to miss, but strong enough to compliment.
The whole place drew her in, inviting Maryl to simply relax. She already was in love with the scene, so now it was time to try the main event. So enthralled was she, that when she stepped forward, the shy girl almost let her towel slip. However, as strong as it had ever been, fear gripped her heart, and she held the towel tight to herself. Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. This wasn’t her, and… and she should just leave.
Her heel turned, and she looked back to the doorway. The natural melody still played in her ears, beckoning her back. The overwhelming heat wrapped its arms around her, and tried to tell her it was alright. It was the door though, just staring at that frame of wood, that clicked something in her head. The words her best friend had told her for almost ten years. The words she hated to hear now that she was eighteen.
“You’re just being a coward.”
Maryl turned back towards the water, her hand tearing the towel away from herself as she grit her teeth. Her body shook for a moment, but it brought a smile to her face, rather than tears to her eyes. The draft was simply cold in there without anything on, but it was also just one more element that pulled her towards the water that she now bravely marched towards.
And then, she slipped.
A scream tore itself from her lungs as she plunged face first into the clear, blue water. It smacked her soft face like a hot pan, stinging her as she felt its embrace. Fortunately, she had cleared the rim of the pool, so after the shock, all that hurt was her pride.
She looked up, staring at the bright ball in the sky as she could feel her chest tighten. It wasn’t the water pressure though. No, it was watching her last hope for some shred of confidence into the adult world fade away. Her own, personal win that would make everything better. And now, all she wanted to do was cry.
A splash broke her thoughts, and she could see the outline of two, long legs in the distance. Her whole body froze, before she tried to swim backwards. She didn’t want to be seen anymore, or have anyone help her, but the person only kept getting closer. They grabbed her shoulders, and pulled, forcing Maryl to come back with them.
For a moment, she coughed, trying to clear the water she had inadvertently swallowed in her panic. Looking up only brought more of it though, and her lungs collapsed as she stared at the blue eyes she had stared into for almost ten years. The blue eyes that meant safety, and security. The blue eyes that belonged to Sue her best friend. “W-what are you d-doing here?”
Sue blinked, looking at her friend like she had gone mad for a moment as she breathed heavily. “I heard you scream, so I came running, like I always do. What did you think I would do?”
Maryl’s cheeks began to burn as she felt her chest rub against her friend’s, and she barely whispered, “I-I m-mean wh-why are you here? I-in a hot spring?”
The taller woman’s eyes widened as she her grip on Maryl loosened. Looking down made her own face grow bright red as she remembered that, while she was dressed, her besty would be literally anything but here. “Oh, hey, yeah, funny story, I promise you’ll laugh, I mean, it’s the breas- best!”
Maryl pursed her lips as she tried to figure out what was going on. Sue was always so confident, and strong, so to see her so flustered, and dodging just made the confusion caused by her embarrassment and the heat all that much worse. Looking into those blue pearls again though, she felt a spasm of pain in her chest.
She had seen those exact eyes hundreds of times, but never here. No, they always were in the mirror, trying to convince her that today would be a good day, and that her growing chest wasn’t an issue. That the bullies wouldn’t make fun of her again.
Maryl balled one of her hands into a fist, while the other reached up, and touched the side of her friend’s face. Her face stayed the bright red it had been for the last minute as Sue looked down, but now she wouldn’t move her eyes. She was going to stare at Sue, and get an answer. “Why are you here?”
The other woman simply became silent as she looked down. This couldn’t be easy on Maryl, being in contact with another person while everything was on display, and it warmed her heart, before a lance of cold pierced it back. She had to answer though, even if it was just some stupid lie. Something to get her to go away.
Looking down at the other girl though, none would come. All she could say was how she felt, what had made her come in the first place. “I-I’m here because… because I love you, and was hoping, just maybe, that you might, you know,” Sue swallowed hard as tears welled up in her eyes, “want to go out sometime, since you’re not such a scaredy…” She couldn’t get herself to finish the words, but instead hang her head in shame.
Maryls eyes widened, and, for the first time in her life, she forgot how close she was to another person. Her fears melted away, and her mind became quiet. The panic, the mistrust, everything faded away, leaving her with only Sue’s face, and the thumping of her heart. Her lip quivered, and she stepped closer, a tear coming down her own face. “What did you say?”
Sue turned away, her chest in blazing pain as she tried to step out of the water. “Nothing Just forget about it. I’m only being a fucking idiot!” She tried to raise her hand, put it against her head to try to get the pain to stop, when soft fingers wrapped around it.
Silence filled the air as Maryl panted, currently trying to ignore the fact that she did just want to collapse. Instead, she swallowed hard, and said, “I-I w-would really l-like that, if the offer is still o-open.”
Sue finally let the tear in her eyes to fall as she smiled. It was the best moment of her life, and she took her time drinking it in. When she went to share how happy her best friend had just made her though, an angry, female voice screamed from within the hotel. “What are you doing dressed in there?”
Maryl watched as her friend turned around, bu
t even though she knew Sue was the type to yell at something as inopportune as this, she didn’t hear… anything. Than again, the last ten minutes had been pretty rough on the poor girl. From facing her fear, to jumping into love, and now having to know someone else could see her naked, it was all a little too much. So, with her head safely against a ledge, and the warmth of everything she had just learned, or just the hot water, in her heart, she embraced the sweet escape of embarrassed unconsciousness.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who reads this book, for simply giving enough time so as to see my silly little story about coming to age, and of facing your fears warms my heart. If you wish to keep an eye out for more of my works, especially for the shorts that are free for the first week they’re out, please consider finding my group on facebook, Michael Hudson’s Writings, or follow me on Twitter @MDHWrites.
Also, to give credit where credit is very much so deserved, thank you to Fenrox from DeviantArt for the cover. I think it came out well, and just like the story, skirts PG-13 quite nicely.
With all of that said, I wish to hope you all a good day, and hope you enjoyed this small tale.
Sincerely,
Michael Hudson