A Leap of Faith

Day One

I left at the same time I leave for school and pulled out my phone to text Jessie: On my way x. I wasn’t surprised to find myself walking at a faster pace than normal. About ten minutes later I was walking down her road and looking out for the number 13, and I noticed that all the houses down the road were incredibly big. Eventually I arrived at a large wooden gate that had the number 13 lavishly painted on it. I saw an intercom on the wall by my side but decided against using it, just in case Jessie’s mum was home and didn’t know I was coming over. Instead I sent another text: I’m outside. Shall I use intercom or just wait here? x.

 Seconds later the reply came back: Intercom and gate aren’t working – can you climb over x. I stared at my phone for a few seconds to check that she had seriously just asked me to climb over her front gate, but no matter how long I stared the message didn’t change. The gate was wide enough to let a car out, had a flat top, and was slightly taller than me. I threw my bag over then attempted to pull myself up. When that didn’t work I decided to take a few steps back then run and jump. This time I managed to get a good hold and pushed myself up with my arms so I ended up sitting on the gate. I swung my legs over, trying to maintain as much dignity as possible seeing as I was wearing my school skirt and then jumped down. Picking up my bag I headed to the front door of Jessie’s house.

I lifted my hand to knock but Jessie beat me to it and opened the door. “Hello,” I said, so happy to see her. “Hey!” she responded as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

“Won’t your parents mind that I’m here?” I asked.

“They’re not here. They hardly ever are; they work such long hours. But trust me – it’s for the best.”

Before I could ask what she meant she had grabbed my hand again and said, “Come on, let’s go to my room and you can tell me what your mysterious plans for today are.”

“I don’t have time to explain! We’re going to be late unless we get going soon,” I argued. Jessie took five minutes to run around her house finding her keys and coat before we retreated out the front door. It was about a half hour walk but neither of us minded as the route took us past the cliffs and alongside the beach, then down a quiet road to a large hall. As we passed by the beach I pointed out to Jessie a beautiful house on the beach and commented, “It must be amazing to live there. You have the beach on your doorstep – if that was me I’d sleep in a hammock outside and listen to the waves at night.” Jessie smiled, and I instantly felt embarrassed as she probably thought I was some poetic geek who dreamed of watching the sunset on the beach with the person I loved. Instead she said, “Actually that’s my uncle’s house.” I felt my cheeks go bright red - it seemed I couldn’t say anything without embarrassing myself one way or another. “Maybe I’ll take you round there one day,” Jessie said with a smile, and it put me at ease for the rest of the walk.

Eventually we arrived at a hall and walked through the doors into a reception area. There was a lady sitting at a desk surrounded by boxes and she greeted us, “You’re lucky, there’s only two more spaces. What size do you need?”

“Size 8 please,” I answered, and then turned to Jessie who was looking extremely confused and said, “What size clothes are you?”

“Oh, I’m an 8 as well.”

The lady handed us two plastic bags with the number 8 on them and directed us down the hall to a changing room. We walked into the room and saw nine other women with the same plastic bags as us changing into what was in the bags. We headed to an empty corner of the room and I put my school bag on the bench. “What is this? Are we going swimming or something?” Jessie asked.

“Better,” I replied, “It’s easier to explain when we’re actually in there, so just get changed for now then you’ll see.” From the plastic bag I pulled out a plain black bikini and began to subtly work my way into it by pulling it on under my skirt and blouse at first so that I didn’t have to strip completely in front of everyone. I quickly glanced in Jessie’s direction to see if she was changed, which she was, and I couldn’t help but notice her figure. It was stunning – we were both the same size but somehow her waist and just everything about her looked a million times better than me. “What now?” Jessie asked as she stood there in the black bikini matching mine. Before I could answer a man poked his head around the door and said, “Ladies if you would all like to follow me to the hall to join the gentlemen and we’ll begin shortly.” Everyone filed out of the door, some covering up their bodies clearly uncomfortable wearing a bikini, others were strutting out laughing with their friends and not caring.