Chapter 24: Preparations

“This may be the biggest challenge yet for you two. I hope you’re prepared for it.”

Doctor Sylvia’s warning fell upon tense ears. Jason and Moira fidgeted on the couch, glancing warily at one another.

“You won’t be able to have your… ‘counseling session’ for the week,” she reminded them. “There won’t be time. And since the Beach Trip is quite an intense event…”

They gulped.

The Beach Trip. From early Saturday to late Sunday, the students in their class would be going on a trip to the beach. Not to a real beach, of course, but an artificial reproduction inside the Bunker designed for recreational purposes.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Moira asked, smiling fondly as she thought about all the stories in the doctor’s books about couples on the beach. “I mean, we’ve all been to the beach before! We went back during Secondary Education, remember?”

The doctor’s expression turned stern. “Yes, it is a big deal,” she chastised Moira for her naïve thinking. “This won’t be like those other times, wearing those dreary, conservative unitards to swim in. The purpose of this trip is to familiarize you students with your Partner’s bodies, and that means swimsuits to show off skin. Do you think you’ll be able to handle that?”

Moira blushed. Fantasies of walking hand in hand down the beach at dusk cracked and fell away to make room for images of Jason, shirtless like all those swimsuit models they’d seen in class. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

The two of them had managed to do quite a lot together with their limited time each week. Mostly kissing, but they also practiced a lot of hand-holding and hugging, and in their most recent getaway, something the doctor called “cuddling” which was basically hugging while lying down in bed.

And yes, once, they’d tried taking their shirts off. Just for a few minutes. Moira had traced her fingers all over his chest, while Jason…

Well, she didn’t know exactly what to call what his fingers had done, but it had felt even better than kissing. It was way more embarrassing, though, for the both of them, and she’d felt too flustered to ask for it again.

So seeing him without his shirt in public…

Moira suddenly realized her throat was very dry, and quickly downed a glass of water. It felt like it was getting hot in here!

“It… it’ll be fine!” She tried to sound confident, even though she could feel her face burning.

“Are you sure?” Jason asked. The worried look in his eye made her wince. Moira knew she was the weak link, the loose gear in the well-oiled machine that was their secret romance. Jason may have been the one to stay away from her out of fear of not being able to hold himself back, but now that they were together, she had been the one fighting the urge to pounce on him every second they were together.

What a surprise, her self-control problems were making things harder, that had never happened before.

Doctor Sylvia looked at the troubled expressions on their faces and sighed. “Well, the trip isn’t for another two weeks. I suppose we’ll have to practice maintaining composure in the interim, hmm?”

…

The Beach Trip was all the class could talk about. Everyone was excited to spend a night away from their families, and the events that Ai described sounded like fun. Because of that, it was hard to stay focused on the lectures, and even the teachers seemed to understand that, since most of their classes recently had just been review. There were still a few, though, that required participation, like the Intimacy Preparation Class they were currently in the middle of.

“Nicely done, Jason. Hand on her back, step, step, turn, Skye, follow his lead, there you go!”

They were dancing. It was a date activity from old Earth, and one that Jason didn’t quite see the point of. As he held Skye tightly against his body and they moved across the classroom he just felt awkward. But then he imagined holding Moira like this, feeling the beating of her heart so close to his, and he began to get it.

His eyes met hers across the room. She looked anxious, but the moment she saw the warning in his gaze she quickly straightened up, pretending like she felt nothing seeing the boy she loved dance with another girl.

Jason wasn’t sure how he’d be able to get through her practice lesson with Andrew.

“Jealousy”. That’s what Doctor Sylvia called this unpleasant feeling. It was a foreign word, one that had no place in the Bunker; when everyone had what they needed and wanted for nothing, this angry desire and feelings of possessiveness was just a relic of the past.

But for the two of them, it was their greatest enemy.

Moira tried to stay strong as she watched Skye curl up in her love’s arms, but it was agonizing. She wanted to scream and burst into tears. Every inch of her was burning to shove Skye away and kiss him right there in front of everyone, but she couldn’t.

It’s okay. It’s necessary. Endure it. Endure it.

Under the table, she clenched her fists so tightly she nearly felt her fingers break the skin.

After Dance Class, Teacher Elyse made another announcement.

“Okay class, I’m sure you’re excited for our overnight trip to the beach coming up, but there’s something important I want to remind you of. Because you won’t be sleeping in your regular quarters, we’ve decided to assign you sleeping arrangements in the bungalow.”

One of the few structures built in the beach room, the bungalow was a large building with several rooms for sleeping.

“…And you’ll be sleeping in the same room as your Partners.”

Several people perked up at the thought of spending the night with their Partners but Jason and Moira weren’t among them.

“Now before you get any ideas, you won’t just be with your Partners,” the teacher quickly clarified, bringing down the excitement of the room slightly. “In order to prevent any unscheduled intimate activities during this trip, each pair of Partners will be staying with another pair! Doctor Sylvia picked the groups out herself!”

The doctor waved from the front of the room, wearing a smile as kind as usual, but with just a tinge of mischief in it.

Jason and Moira let out the smallest of gasps. Sure enough, they were all staying in the same room.

“This is so great!” Moira grinned, turning around in her seat. Her words and smile were addressed to Skye, but they were really for Jason.

“Yes, it should be very fun,” Skye smiled slightly. “But Teacher Elyse has not finished her explanation.”

Moira blushed, sheepishly turning forward again. Inside, her heart was pounding in her chest. She was certainly looking forward to staying up all night with Jason. But she also wanted to have fun with Skye, too.

It was strange. She burned with jealousy every time she saw them together, but she also genuinely liked Skye as a person. Moira didn’t quite know what to make of those feelings, so she ignored them, and focused on the rest of the teacher’s speech.

“…And finally, we’ll be dividing the class between boys and girls today, and taking them to go pick out your swimsuits!” Teacher Elyse finished.

A few confused murmurs broke out among the students. Skye raised her hand.

“Teacher Elyse, my swimsuit still fits perfectly fine, so I don’t need a replacement.”

The teacher opened her mouth to reply, but Doctor Sylvia stepped forward to answer first.

“Actually, Skye, you won’t be using that swimsuit for this trip. Ai has decided that you’re finally old enough to choose what kind of swimsuit you would like to wear, so you all will be picking out your own. Their designs will be similar to those from old Earth, and they’ll be custom-made to your specifications once you’ve found one you like.”

That got a wave of excitement out of several students, but Skye just looked confused.

“But… how will we know which one is the best?”

The doctor shook her head. “You’ll be picking for yourself. Which design do you like most? Which colors? What would you like your Partner to see you wearing? It’s the same as picking out your regular clothes.”

Skye brightened. “Oh, now I understand!”

“We’ll give you a few minutes to consult with your Partner about what they would like you to wear if you like, and then we’ll split the class,” the teacher instructed. Skye immediately turned to face Jason, her face surprisingly serious.

“Jason, what sort of swimsuit would you like me to wear?” The adamant tone of her question was also unusual.

“I mean… you can pick whatever you want, right?” It honestly didn’t matter what Skye wore, she looked good in anything. But really, Jason was much more interested in what Moira would pick out.

“No, this is important,” she insisted. “If I want to get a good grade, then I have to pick something you would like. Do you remember the designs we went over in class? Which would look best on me?”

“Something… white, I guess?” It was Skye’s favorite color, so it seemed like a safe bet.

“Any particular design? One piece or two?”

“Um… a one piece, I think? I don’t know, I think you’ll really look good regardless,” Jason said. Skye didn’t seem very enthused by his answer. But she took it.

“What about for me?” Jason asked. “Any preferences?” It felt weird asking that, since there was a lot more variety in the swimsuits for girls. For boys, they were almost exclusively just shorts of varying lengths.

But Skye was Skye, and she looked at him sharply, appraising his body for the right fit. He couldn’t help but smile, she really took everything seriously, huh?

…

As Moira scanned through the different models on the telescreen, she tried to keep her emotions in check. The boys had been taken to the neighboring classroom with Teacher Elyse, so now it was just the girls. They were all showing off the designs they’d picked out to each other.

But she was still stuck.

So Jason likes a one piece design, huh… She’d been hoping that he preferred the ones with a section for the top and bottom. That’s what Andrew had suggested for her. What was it called again? A “bikini”?

She was honestly kind of mad. It didn’t seem like he really cared one way or another what she wore, he’d just thrown it out there without even thinking. Well, if it didn’t matter to him, then he could at least have picked something that would let her show off to the guy she wanted to look at her!

…Should she just get a one piece? If he didn’t really care…

No, no, don’t even think about it! She chastised herself, quickly shaking those thoughts away. If she went that directly against her Partner’s specifications, then people might suspect she was dressing for Jason and that would be the end of everything.

But she also didn’t want to wear a bikini, either. Jason probably wouldn’t like it, and besides… they were showing a lot of skin. Like, way more than normal. And sure, he’d seen her without her shirt before, but this was…

Her face began to heat up as she imagined him staring at her. It was an odd feeling that she both liked and didn’t like, and one that was growing increasingly common the more time she spent around him.