The Transfer Student

Chapter 28: Scorching Hot Gossip

The meal tasted great after such a long day of skiing and falling, in my case.

Liz, our self-appointed itinerary director, spoke up, "Alright, I'm sure we can all agree that seven is much to early to go to sleep so I have one last activity planned for us today" she announced.

I clapped, humouring her.

"To the hot springs!" she cried a little bit too loudly.

Several heads turned in our direction, a few laughing.

"Pipe down, Liz" I scolded her jokingly.

She waved at me dismissively, "So who's up for it?".

All five hands shot up in the air. I guess everyone needed some time unwinding their muscles after all that action today.

"Alright! So it's decided then!" Liz chirped happily.

Not too long later, we were in line to the reception desk in the hot springs wing of the resort. As we were finally able talk to a receptionist, Liz and I went up, showing the lady all of our passes.

"That's great! I'll have your bracelets printed in a second" she said as she hit the enter button on her keyboard, "So, how are you guys enjoying your stay so far?" she asked kindly.

"So far so good" Liz said, sincerely happy, "It's just about to get a lot better though" she said, smirking.

The lady laughed, unsure of what else to do, "Well, here are your bracelets" she said as she helped strap each one onto our wrists, "The number on the bracelet is the number to your individual hot spring stall. The barcode on your bracelet will unlock your door when you hold it close to the lock" she said before indicating to the entrance, "Please enjoy your time here".

We followed her indications and walked into the entrance. Then we walked down a long hallway until we each found our stalls. My stall number was thirty-six and I had to walk a bit before finding it to my left. I did as the lady at the front desk had instructed and the door clicked open obediently. I pushed the door in to see a luxurious facility. I stepped inside, eyes straying.

"Wow, they really mean business" I whispered aloud.

The door slid slowly closed behind me and I fanned myself, immediately feeling the incredible humidity in the air. I took off my clothing but was wondering whether or not I should just go in with my scarf on.

I laughed at myself, "Who does that?".

I quickly grabbed a towel and headed for the springs. Steam was curling up from the still waters, just looking at it made me feel extremely relaxed. I dipped a shy toe into the water, feeling the temperature. It was hot, hotter than comfortable but it was probably because I had been out in the snow too long. I gently slid into the water, sighing as I went. I pulled my hair to one side and sank into the water up to the bridge of my nose. I could almost feel every single pore on my body clean itself out. It was amazing...and it seemed to loosen my tense muscles too. I rose back up out of the water up to my collarbone before sitting down and spreading my arms out along the rim of the pool of water. The rocks seemed real too. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. It was the most relaxed I'd been in days, months even.

"You won't believe how vulnerable you look right now" a low voice declared.

I opened my mouth to scream but a hand clamped down tightly on my lips. I threw my arms over my chest and turned to look at my to-be-rapist and nearly fainted.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Liz?!" I snarled angrily as I threw her hands off of me angrily, "I could've had a heart attack!" I hissed.