That Summer Feeling: SUMMER 4EVER [H.S.]

10. Hit Me Where It Hurts

Clean. Fresh. Luxurious. Lavender fields and eucalyptus trees immediately relax my senses. Gentle piano notes and soothing harmonic tones filled my eardrums as we walk further into this haven. Gigi surprised me and the girls this morning with a special pampering session at the Vitality Wellness and Spa Center in town. Decadent hour-long massages, revitalizing facials, and a selection of hot teas to drink after wasn't the worse way to spend an afternoon. It was the best way. I still had knots and tension behind my back and deep bruises from ice skating.

It was like my muscles began to relax as soon as we walk through the thick wooden doors. The sun gently streamed through the open skylights above the lobby. A wave of tranquility washed over us, as gentle as the soothing sounds from the large fountain behind the reception desk echoed in the quiet.

"Nothing like a vacation from our vacation," Zoey murmurs with a low voice as if any volume above the new-age music playing on the speakers would disrupt the peace they've created.

"I love girls day." Bella grins, gingerly taking a seat on the dark woven couches positioned across from the reception.

The package Gigi and her mother set up for us included a face lifting massage, a rose quartz facial, and a Himalayan salt sauna. We haven't begun any treatments but it's safe to say this is heaven.

For the next half hour, I lay flat and relaxed as gentle hands target all of my overworked pressure points around my neck, back, and face. Pressure points I didn't even know I had. It was like my masseuse, Nara, knew my body better than mine. Knew how much pressure to apply, where, and how long to do so. I was seconds from confessing my love for her after she finished and left me in a clouded daze of essential oils and tender muscles.

I had no problem lying still once again as she spread a thin mask over my face and neck made up of organic yogurt and oat, soothing the skin upon contact.

I fell asleep before the 30 minutes were up. Nara gently pulled me from my slumber as she wiped the mask with a warm damp towel. She led me to the sauna after I changed into only a fluffy towel. The rest of the girls were already there, I had been a few minutes after them because I had indulged into a deep sleep I didn't know I needed.

"How do you feel?" Gigi lifts her lips at me in a lazy smile.

"Like a newborn baby." I mirror her smile and sit on the wooden bench to the side, immediately sighing in relief as the heat from the infrared rays seeps into my skin.

"I can literally feel the toxins leave my skin as we speak," Bella says with a sigh, resting her head on the wooden panels behind her.

"Me too. I needed a good detox," Sam says, her eyes closed as a small smile spreads across her face. "I've never sweated so much in my life."

"Not even in Florida?" Zoey chuckles. "I went once with my family to go to Disney World and my dad was drenched in sweat just from the walk to the car from the hotel."

Sam laughs. "That's good old Florida for you."

Gigi groans, snapping out of the bliss for a second. "I don't want to go back to the cabin and the boys and the messy kitchen. I want to live here."

"Don't." Zoey sighs. "I'm expecting to walk into a bigger mess than we left it."

As we were leaving the cabin, the guys kept shouting 'boys night' even as we were driving away. It made us nervous to leave them alone in the house, already imagining the worse state they'd leave it in while we're gone. Though Nara and this spa had relaxed me so much that if we walked into the house right now and it looked like a tornado had blazed through, my mellow would hardly be affected at all.