Pooled Tension

"Are we near the top?" I asked.

"Jules, my God, I hope so," said Selina between deep breaths.

Ashley turned back to us, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her in that infuriating, effortless way. "Still a couple more miles," she said.

"Ash, you're barely even sweating," said Selina, whose reddened brow glistened with perspiration. Ashley, tennis captain, subject of a dozen local news articles, stared back at her, unsure of what to say. There was a gulf between her level of fitness and Selina's - mine was somewhere in between - and it clearly made her uncomfortable, especially as this hike up Devil's Peak had been her idea. My eyes followed hers as she looked back down at the town, which seemed to shimmer in the heat. Everyone else in our year was down there, getting drunk and exchanging bodily fluids. But we'd sworn to remain pure until we got to college - that's to say, as long as we remained in this village of quick judgements, we would never be the subjects of salacious gossip. Not that anything we did or did not do stopped the parade of one-track male minds in our year from speculating.

We couldn't wait to escape with our scholarships to the big cities that would allow us to be anonymous and maybe dip our toe in that carefully avoided pool of lust and romance. Especially Ashley, who'd given her teens to hard work, who always drew a crowd of boys to training, whose every movement on campus was scrutinized by these slaves to testosterone. She's always been serious, but at least she used to smile with teeth when we were in middle school. Now, she hardly smiles at all.

Selina, on the other hand, has the sharpest and most fantastical intellect of the three of us, and easily the filthiest mouth. Where Ashley has honed her body for feats of athleticism, Selina has honed her mind with all the books she can get her hands on: literary fiction, popular science, geopolitical treatises... and romance novels. So many romance novels. Ashley and I have been the unwilling beneficiaries of her research into bodily proclivities over the years, every week bringing a new type, a new position, a new fetish. But it was always the telling that fascinated her, rather than the scenarios and acts themselves. "The hottest thing is good writing," she would always say, and it was hard to disagree. Sometimes I'd go home from another Sunday study session and try to recreate the fantasy of the passage she'd read; to touch myself the way the author had made the characters touch each other. I always found it most exciting if they reflected me somehow. An uptight white woman throwing off WASPish strictures is boring (sorry, Ashley). A young Latina connecting with the currents of history running through her? Now you're talking.

Ah, there it is, right on cue: the voice of my mother in my head, telling me to stay true, my father looking on sternly from his chair. I can't even think impure thoughts without them intruding. Still they worry about me, a lot, as I've continued to get good grades, and as my lips have remained unkissed. The number of times I've been grounded for returning from Selina's or Ashley's house ten minutes later than expected...

I get it; they've never felt completely safe in this country, and they've worked unbelievably hard to give me better than they got. I've rewarded them by getting a full ride to UC San Diego and developing the habit of hard work, which (they keep saying) will last me a lifetime. And that will probably be that. I can escape to the big city, free of their quietly overbearing hold, and carve out my own path in this world. Maybe even see what it's like, this terrible world of sin they keep warning me about.

The thing that makes it hard, though, is that I worry about them, too. How will my dad, who still pronounces the name Jonathan 'Honatan', survive without me? In this town of white paint and landscaped lawns, most of which he mows and maintains? As for my mom, well, she has her telenovelas, and her telenovela discussion group - sorry, I mean her church group... But so much of her time and attention goes into me; specifically, preventing me from straying off the straight and narrow path I willingly follow. Reaching for the silver crucifix around my neck, the one she placed there when I was four years old, and fussing over another imagined indiscretion. "Who was that boy standing next to you? Madre, madre. And this chest growing every day bigger around this cross. You remember, girl. Dios te está mirando."

I'm sure they'll be fine. It's just that the reason they crossed the border is going to be three hundred miles away. Who even are they, in a world without me?

"Food. Please," said Selina. "I used up all my mystical energy."

"Good idea," I replied. I hoisted my pack off my shoulders. Mom had made me bring cold and wet weather gear, which seemed even more ridiculous now that I'd soaked through the straps with my sweat. I sighed with relief as they lifted away, the weight leaving grooves in my shirt and the skin underneath.

Selina collapsed to the earth with her pack next to me and sprawled in exhaustion. Ashley was still standing, her pack in place around her tank top, admiring the view.

And it was some view. The horizon seemed an eternity away, the prairie in-between marbled with tree-lined ridges and rocky outcrops, the flat dotted with cacti. Behind us, the trail continued up to the full height of Devil's Peak, which blocked out half the sky. Listening to her pant beside me, I wondered how much further Selina could go. My own calves were aching in protest, and it felt as though someone had taken a hammer and been gently knocking away at the soles of my feet for the last two hours.

Eventually, Ashley sat down, and we ate. I was so hungry, I barely tasted Mom's arroz con leche. The only thing that gave me satisfaction was water. Sweet, loving water.

Ashley finished her foil-packed salmon and a protein bar before Selina and I were done. "I thought I saw a cave back there," she announced, standing up.

"Don't make me move," said Selina, still catching her breath.

"Surely not," I said.

"Probably not," said Ashley. "But I'm going to check it out. I'll be right back."

Once she was back down the trail and out of earshot, Selina said, "I swear she is a freak."

"She does work incredibly hard," I replied.

"Exactly," said Selina.

We looked at the view for a beat. I took another swig of water.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm going to miss her a lot."

"Me too," I said. "I'm going to miss you, too."

"Oh babe, you know it," said Selina, looking at me with that cute grin and wrinkling the freckles around her eyes. "And you're going to do such amazing things. But I just gotta say, Ash is on a different level. She could be world famous."

"Of course. She won't have any time for us plebs. 'Sorry, who are you? Would you like an autograph?'"

"Haha. Honestly, I can't imagine dear Ash getting like that."

"You on the other hand, when your latest smutty bestseller comes out and I get to the front of the signing queue..."

"Oh, absolutely. I intend to abuse every aspect of any fame I happen to achieve."

Footsteps on the path. Ashley was returning with an odd grin on her face. She actually looked kind of excited.

"Why are you smiling at us like that?" I asked.

"I think you should just come and see," she replied.

"That's great, Ash," said Selina, "but I don't think I can move."

"It's worth it," said Ashley. "I promise."

Selina and I looked at each other. It was very strange for Ashley to be like this. Normally she just followed whatever we (okay, mostly Selina) wanted to do.

"Okay," said Selina, clambering to her feet. "This better be worth it."

"I promise you it will," said Ashley.

She led us back down the trail for a minute or so, then abruptly left it, pushing through some tall grass. Behind it was a cave entrance, wide enough to walk through if we stooped. Once inside, the space opened out to the size of a backyard swimming pool, about twenty yards long and five yards across. I say swimming pool because most of the bottom of the cave was filled with water, shallow and comfortably flat for sitting and reclining at the edges, deep in the center. It was opaque, milky, almost white.

A shaft of sunlight illuminated the cave from a high opening. The smell of rich minerals filled the air, and I could see faint wisps of steam rising from the water's surface.

"I dipped my toe and it feels amazing," said Ashley. "It's like a spa."

Selina smirked bitterly. "That's great, Ash, but do you see how hot and sweaty I am? If it were an ice bath, maybe..."

"And I think you're forgetting something," I said.

"What?" said Ashley.

"Bathing suits. I didn't bring mine. Did you?"

Ashley looked at the water and grinned again, then looked back at me. "Well..."

"Do you mean..."

Selina laughed once, loudly. "Oh my God! Ashley the great, Ashley the pure, where are you?"

"Well... I just thought, what's the harm? We've seen each other naked. It's clear some of us, er, need a break."

"Julia!" Selina turned to me in mock horror. "Save my soul from Satan!"

My feet were still sore, and the water looked so inviting. And I couldn't help thinking we should go with Ashley on this rare occasion she was leading us.

"It's that hot, I'm sure we won't take long to dry off afterwards," she said.

"Okay, okay," I said. "I'm in."

"Ha. Not if I'm in first," said Selina, already undoing her shoelaces.

"Cool. Cool," said Ashley. Then she grabbed the fabric of her tank top and sports bra and pulled them up over her head in one smooth motion. Next, her shoes and socks, whipped off in a heartbeat while standing on one foot, and finally her shorts and underwear, down her legs and onto the floor of the cave, a couple of feet from the water's edge. Selina and I had barely gotten our feet naked and she was completely unclothed, her bronzed limbs and midriff giving way to milky white tan lines around her chest and crotch.

I couldn't help watching as she stepped into the pool and lowered her firm body into the water. I'll admit that Ashley's physical prowess sometimes made me a little uncomfortable, and I knew she caught the eye of more boys than Selina or I. Still, I was proud of my body, and as we got down to our skin, this moment provided another reminder that Selina and I had something Ashley didn't: curves.

"Damn, girl," said Selina, looking at my chest and my hips. "No wonder your folks are so worried."

"Shut up," I replied. "You're one to talk."

"Oh, c'mon, these? Stop it. How's the water, Ash?"

"It's..." Ashley started. She settled into a seated position on the right side of the pool, immersed from the waist down. "It's kind of amazing."

The moment I set my feet down in the water, I felt the full power of its natural healing properties coursing through my weary soles, like sparks cleaning out the grooves on my skin and penetrating through to the muscle beneath. I sat down on the smooth stone that surrounded the pool so that only my feet and ankles lay in the water. It was like the world's best foot massage.

"Holy shit," said Selina, finally nude and entering the water. "That is amazing."

Immediately intoxicated, she moved further into the center of the pool in order to immerse herself completely. She treaded water for a few seconds then floated on her back, her eyes closed in bliss.

Across on the other side, Ashley looked flustered. Her mouth was slightly open and the white flesh of her chest had a reddish tinge. I couldn't help noticing a darkening, also, of her pink nipples, which were hard and pointing right at me. "I think..." she said, adjusting her butt in the water. "I'll be back. I need to pee."

She leapt out of the water, almost as if she'd been stung.

"Hey," I said. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied, moving swiftly to the mouth of the cave.

"But you're not wearing - there's nowhere-"

Her naked figure disappeared out into the daylight before I could finish. I thought of going after her, but the sense of nourishment and loving care in my feet was like a wave of calm washing up my body.

"I can't believe how good this feels," said Selina, her voice a languid syrup as she floated in the center of the pool. "You've got to try this, Jules," she said.

After a moment's hesitation, I let my body slip into the water. My butt grazed the flat rock near the side before I let myself slide further in, towards the center, where Selina was floating. The water was a little milky and felt very slightly more viscous than tap water, probably from mineral deposits suspended in it. They created a smooth friction as I ran a hand up and down my arm. My skin had never felt softer or more supple. And as with my feet, the more of my body was underwater, the more the knots of tension from the hike - from my whole life, it seemed - were lifted away.

Very quickly, I noticed a different kind of tension building, just below where the crucifix rested, and further down, too. I became aware that Selina was running her hands up and down her body, shamelessly rubbing her breasts on each pass, occasionally passing over her crotch.

"Selina," I said.

She didn't respond, except to breathe a little heavier. I felt increasingly weightless except for this pit of growing unease in the lower part of my abdomen.

"Selina!" I shouted.

She flipped back to a treading water position with a jerk and looked at me. "I..."

"What's happening?"

"I... don't know..."

As she looked at me with eyes glazed over, her submerged arms moved towards the center of her body. The milkiness obscured her hands but I could tell what she was doing, still looking at me, blinking slowly in agonised bliss.

At the sight of her, my breasts seemed to swell. I moved a hand to cup a breast and found the nipple fully extended, the flesh around it full with resistance. I couldn't stop myself from tweaking it, sending a shot of pure pleasure right through my body. I kept looking at Selina, who had now moved back to the shelf near the edge to lay down while she pleasured herself. My other hand cupped the other breast, also rock hard, and I began to tweak them in unison. Soy mala, soy mala, said a voice in my head. The crucifix bobbed in the water between my breasts as I buffeted them with my hands.

Selina gave a stifled cry to my right, one hand stuffed in her mouth. The other stayed between her legs, idly rubbing and sloshing the water around.

I was close to coming when Ashley returned. Abruptly, I stopped what I was doing and somehow dog-paddled to the shelf, teeth gritted against the vibrations pulsing through my body, then hoisted myself back up to sit on the edge with my feet in the water. My pelvis twitched upon contact with the stone. I was sure my vagina was dripping more than just pool water. I focused on breathing deeply.

Selina slid herself up onto the edge, where she sprawled on her back. Her chest was bright red and rose and fell as she panted. Her eyes were firmly closed. "Jesus," she said. "Jesus."

"What is going on?" asked Ashley.

"Something," I managed.

"You feel it too?"

"Yes, yes," I said.

"Oh God, yes," said Selina, increasingly lucid. "I feel absolutely incredible. What is this place? Where have you taken us?"

"I thought it was just a thermal pool," said Ashley.

"It's not 'just' a thermal pool," I said.

"I..." Ashley trailed off. She looked at Selina, and at me. She definitely noticed the extra perkiness of my breasts. For her part, the red flush around her neck and chest had paled, but her nipples remained as proud as before. We stared at each other nakedly, unguardedly. Completely out of character for both of us. But I had to see what was happening to her body: the bend in her knees as she crossed her legs, the effort to breathe, the pale fuzz at her crotch, the sticky thread of dampness joining her vagina to her inner thigh. I had to take it all in, and think about each of my equivalent body parts, especially my vagina, which was getting wetter and wetter and felt like it was opening up all by itself.

I had masturbated plenty of times before. I'd usually come from humping a pillow while I gripped it from below, with a closed fist, in just the right spot. I'd enjoyed the momentary physical high and quick jolts inside my center before the guilt set in. But this... this was something completely new and different. It felt like every part of me was uncoiling and opening. Even the overwhelming guilt was kind of satisfying, like... whatever this was, it was bigger than me, and the more *mala* I felt about that, the better it would ultimately feel.

At the same time, I can't express how natural it all felt. I mean, sure, this was an entirely new physical sensation in so many ways, but - I guess it was the way it loosened every part of me, starting with the muscles and working its way inward. It felt alive and real in the same way a marble slab countertop shocks you with its natural coolness even in the height of summer. Like, this is the way it is here, this is normal, this is okay.

"Not just a thermal pool," said Selina between deep, satisfied breaths. "Just go with it."

Ashley and I turned to look at her, then back at each other. She was looking at my crotch too, where I could feel sexual fluids slowly flowing out, chilly in the air against my vulva and skin.

"Go with it," said Selina again. "Seriously. I've never..." She stared up at the ceiling of the cave. "Like, I must've had hundreds of orgasms in my life, and that one was like all of them rolled into one. And now, it's like... I feel completely recharged. Like I could do anything."

"What is going on here?" I said, repeating Ashley's question.

"Selina," said Ashley. "I..." She broke off.

"What, Ash?"

"I, um... I just wondered - because I've never - you -"

"Hey, Ash, we got you," said Selina. "Right, Jules?"

I stared at Ashley and nodded.

"Okay," said Ashley. "I just don't know - is it supposed to feel, um... Like is this basically how it goes? I was sure I needed to pee, but-"

"Oh yeah, okay," said Selina, hauling herself to a sitting position on the edge of the pool. "So yeah, this is how it goes. You feel kind of sensitive in some very specific places first, like the nerves are cranked up, and it's hard to think about anything else. Then things can get bigger. And I gotta say, for sure you're bigger around the chest. But also down there. The blood flow enlarges everything. For sure that's what I'm feeling right now."

Ashley tentatively cupped her breasts, blinking slowly as she did so.

"As the sensitivity increases, your heart beats faster. And your insides kind of flutter at the pit of your stomach. It's hard to explain that part, but it's like..."

"Like there's a gap that wasn't there before," I said.

"Mm-hmm," said Ashley.

"Yes. That's it exactly," said Selina. "Like something's missing just above your crotch. After that, it's really just about how far you take all those feelings, because the longer you keep them going, the stronger they'll get."

"Is it normal to..." Ashley went even redder than she already was. She looked down at her crotch. "It's just really, uh... Really wet down there."

"I'm the same, Ash," I said.

"Me too," said Selina. "Big time."

"But it's supposed to be this much?"

"It's unusual, for sure. Especially if you haven't gotten wet like this before. But basically, you're normal and this pool is telling you it's okay to relax a little bit."

"But I don't feel relaxed at all," said Ashley. "I feel more tense than I've ever felt in my life. But also so, like, open."

"Yeah," I said. "Me too."

"Go with it," said Selina. She smirked at me. "You too, blessed virgin."

"We're all virgins," I said.

The deep relief in my still-submerged feet - which should still have been aching from the hike up - tempted me back into the pool. I shuffled forwards a little and strained my eyes into its depths, seeing nothing but gentle wavelets and a few mineral particles in Brownian motion. Yeah, I'm still a nerd, even that close to total physical and mental abandonment.