Geronimo

Two

As fate would have it, I was stuck sharing a room with Leyeta. While I had silently hoped for the private room that my bodyguards had been pushing for, I was glad that if I had to share with someone, it was someone that I knew. While I wouldn't have considered the brunette my best friend, she treated me as such and despite her constant talking I didn't really mind her presence all that much.

Of course, she did nothing but gab and gab as we unpacked our week's worth of stuff from our suitcases, and even more predictably, it was about the incident that had taken place less than an hour ago.

"I wonder who he even was.." Leyeta mumbled aloud. She shrugged. "I didn't even get a good look at his face. Was he cute?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know.. I mean I guess a little bit.." I paused as I re-folded one of my shirts and placed it on my bed. The concept of boys was uncomfortable for me to talk about. Every other girl seemed to be able to go on about such things with ease; but me? I was a hopeless trainwreck.

"And you say he just like, walked away?"

"Yeah," I frowned. "I turned to thank him for catching me, and he was already just about inside."

"How weird. Well," Leyeta smiled. "I'll ask the boys about him tonight when we meet up after the baths. I mean, he goes to our school, right? Somebody's gotta know something about him."

The baths. Right. My heart sank. That was the one thing that I absolutely dreaded.

--

I yanked on the purple coverup that concealed my swimsuit, feeling uncomfortable showing as much skin as I was around my classmates. Girls and boys alike were standing in the small, crowded hallway, waiting for the little woman in the kimono to finish her instructions. Since we were all high school Seniors and we were all supposed to be mature and whatnot, and also the fact that we weren't exactly on school grounds, the chaperones weren't being so strict on the dress code. Meaning, everyone around me was wearing whatever swimsuit they wanted to, as long as it was appropriate enough. Still.. I seemed to be the only one who was clearly having a problem with it.

"So the girls' pool is on the left, and the guys' pool is on the right. There is a short stone wall separating the two, and for privacy's sake, please do not peek or cross." The woman explained.

"That means to stay in your own spring and for the love of Faron, don't go visiting with the girls, got it?" One of the chaperones sent a glare towards the boys, causing most of the girls to giggle.

"Your group is the only set of guests we have for your entire visit, so the pools are all yours. Please enjoy yourselves!" The woman said with a polite bow.

As soon as the doors were opened, the students began to flood out, cheering and running excitedly towards their designated pools; completely ignoring the adults' yelling to walk and not run.

I followed behind the group of girls out into the night, shivering my butt off. As I glanced up at the clouded sky, a few stray snowflakes fluttered down onto my face, a large, fluffy one in particular landing on the tip of my nose. My initial thought was that it was far, far too cold to be out in such little clothing, but as I stood at the edge of the pool, my thoughts changed their tune.

I was fine with just standing there, soaking in the warm steam as it rose and caressed my skin; but of course, Leyeta would have none of that. She beckoned me from across the stony pool and, though hesitant, I stepped in one foot at a time, easing in to get used to the hot water.

I waded over towards Leyeta, who floated around by the wall, and sank deep into the water, sighing. Every muscle in my body had become stiff with a combination of the long trip and the cold of winter, but the hot water erased every bit of tension as I sighed it all out.

"So weird, right?" Leyeta asked as she waded around me in a circle. "We're outside and it's snowing and we're wearing bathing suits and almost overheating."

"Yeah," I agreed quietly.

After a few moments of relaxing, my gaze lifted to the end of the wall, where there was what looked to be a small opening where the pools on either side seemingly collided and then opened up into a tiny, steam-like pool. My guess was that that part was off-limits for us, but nevertheless, a few boys were creeping around the corner, using it as a passageway. I narrowed my eyes in their direction, but that didn't last long before one of the boys suddenly popped up out of the water right beside Leyeta, causing her to screech in surprise.

She splashed him in response and he splashed her back, and the next thing I knew, there was a large group of both boys and girls around me laughing and splashing each other playfully.

Of course, I had to nope out of there as fast as I possibly could.

I quickly made my way towards that narrow pool, where the light hardly reached. It was deeper by at least half a foot, but it was still plenty shallow for me to stand comfortably in. Despite the boys having used that area to cross over to our side, this part seemed completely vacated, which I thanked the gods for.

Finally, I could relax in solitude.

A large rock stuck out of the middle of the narrow pool. It was smooth and looked perfect to sit on or lean against, and I took advantage of that by laying my back against it and letting out a long, content sigh. While there was plenty of noise going on not too far away, I was happy to be away from the splashing.

I closed my eyes, letting myself drift off into a warm, steamy Heaven; when the waters beside me began to stir. I leaned forward and peered around the rock, only to see a figure swimming slowly, looking as though it were headed towards the boys' side. They stopped and we locked eyes, and in the dim lights I slowly recognized it as the boy who had caught me. He must have been there on the other side of the rock already before I had made my way over.

Our stare was cut short this time as he moved frantically, suddenly trying to swim as fast as he could back to where he was supposed to be; but I waded towards him gently.

"Hey, you don't have to go. You were here first, right?"

He stopped and glanced back at me, then slowly turned towards me and half-shrugged.

"I didn't get to thank you for saving me earlier.. so thank you." I offered him a soft smile. "My name is Zelda, by the way. What's yours?"

He looked at me for a few seconds before averting his gaze, remaining silent and otherwise still. Finding the lack of response a bit strange, I cleared my throat and continued to attempt my conversation.

"So did you come over here to get away from the crazies, too?" I asked, to which he looked to me again and nodded. I stifled a laugh. "It's only a matter of time before they get yelled at, and I really don't want to be part of that."

He nodded again as if he were agreeing. Still, his silence was unnerving, causing me to feel the desperate need to keep talking.

"I mean-- you can go if you want to.. I didn't mean to hold you back.." I began, the beginnings of awkwardness burning in me.

He moved a few feet closer and leaned against the side of the rock, offering me a small, equally awkward smile. I returned it as I sank deeper into the water. I glanced aside at him.

"So uh.. have you ever been to a hot spring before?"

He shook his head.

"It's kinda neat, huh?"

He nodded.

"You go to our school, right?"

Another nod.

"You're.." My lips fell into a straight line. "Kinda quiet, huh?"

He shrugged.

I let that fail of a conversation die down and let myself drift into my own thoughts. He was so quiet.. how strange. I stole a few glances at him to see that he was watching the others in the distance, his eyes locked on no one in particular. A chaperone had stepped in and had been yelling at them, shoving the boys back to their side at first, but then ushering everyone out of the water and handing out towels. I took this as my chance to escape.

"Well, I guess it's time to get out already. See you around!" I said, wading away and never looking back. I wasn't sure if he had followed or not, but the awkwardness was settling in badly.