Chapter 25: Tension

Going to class on a Saturday was a strange feeling. But then, that’s not where they were headed, were they? No, the room that Jason and Moira and the other students were walking to was another section of the Bunker entirely, and the packs on their backs didn’t contain supplies for school, but for an overnight trip away from their families.

The corridor was alive with excitement, but Jason just felt anxious.

He met Moira’s gaze and saw the tension in her eyes, the same feeling welling up inside him. She was right next to him. They were walking beside their Partners, but in secret, they were together.

“We’ll be fine,” he tried to tell her with his eyes. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly. Then they both looked forward.

They had to be careful. No one could know. This trip was possibly their biggest challenge yet; they just needed to make it through these next two days without anyone catching on.

“Jason, did you bring your art supplies?”

Jason had nearly forgotten that Skye was here. Hopefully that flinch didn’t give him away…

“Yeah, I did, just in case, gotta practice after all.”

Skye smiled. “Of course. If there’s time, perhaps you could draw a picture of the sea. We so rarely get to go, after all.”

Like the oxygen farm, the beach was a fairly long way from the residential quarters. Not only that, but children in Secondary Education and below weren’t permitted to go without parental guidance for safety reasons, and access was limited to conserve power. They were lucky to go maybe a few times a year, which meant today’s trip was special.

Jason would like to preserve a memory of it. But when he closed his eyes it wasn’t the gentle waves or the white sand he wanted to draw, it was Moira. He didn’t know what sort of swimsuit she’d be wearing since they would pick them up at the changing area, so his imagination covered her gorgeous figure in all manner of patterns and colors.

“Are you alright? We haven’t reached the beach yet, but you already look warm…” The concern in Skye’s eyes brought Jason back, and he quickly laughed her worries off.

This wasn’t good. Just imagining Moira in beachwear was giving him away, he dreaded what would happen when he finally saw it.

…

It was another hour before they arrived. Ai was there to greet them at the door, dressed in a bright white one piece herself.

“Welcome, class!” She waved. “Are you ready to have some fun in the sun?”

“Yes!” Everyone cheered.

“Excellent! We have a lot of fun activities planned for you today! Your teachers and I have set up four stations for you to enjoy! Group 1 will go with Coach Gleason to swim, Group 2 will go with Teacher Elyse to build sandcastles, Group 3 will go with Coach Louise to play Beach Bunker Ball, and Group 4 will go with Teacher Marion to fish! And after an hour, you’ll move to the next station and do something new! Any questions?”

Skye raised her hand.

“There aren’t fish in the water, correct? So what will we be fishing for?”

“Excellent question, Skye!” Ai smiled. “Teacher Marion, would you like to explain?”

“Absolutely!” Teacher Marion was a pretty young woman from the Generation ahead of them. She had tan skin and a short coif of mint-colored hair. She wore a straw hat over it and her shiny blue eyes peeked out from beneath the brim. “You see, Skye, we aren’t actually fishing to catch anything. The value of fishing comes from teaching patience and concentration, and enjoying the feeling of being on the beach!”

Skye nodded. “Thank you for your explanation, teacher!”

Moira and Jason were a lot more excited about bunker ball. And swimming, of course.

“Now, once you enter, please go to the changing rooms and change into your swimsuits,” Ai instructed. “Doctor Sylvia will explain what to do next once you’re on the beach.”

She threw her fist up into the air. “Now, let’s go!”

Jason and the rest of the boys walked into the individual closets in the changing room and got into their swimsuits. Skye had chosen a pair of dark blue shorts for him to wear, and he wondered if all that time she’d spent thinking about it really made a difference considering Andrew was wearing the exact same thing, and Jason knew for a fact Moira had chosen it for him in less than two seconds. Both boys left the changing room at about the same time, and headed into the meeting area. Jason could just barely see the beach down the hallway.

“Okay students, once your group is all together, line up,” Doctor Sylvia instructed. She walked through the crowd handing out sunscreen with the other teachers. Well, they called it sunscreen, but in fact it wasn’t anything of the sort; after all, the beach was being lit by 100% harmless rays generated by the Bunker.

Jason was getting antsy waiting for the girls. He’d imagined Moira in dozens of swimsuits, taking glances at the catalog to see if he could make a guess.

“Hello.”

He turned to see Skye approaching with a faint smile. “You look nice, Jason.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Jason responded. “You look nice as well.”

She did look quite nice. As he’d requested, her sleek one piece was as white as her pale skin, and it clung to her slender figure just fine.

Then he saw Moira come out of the changing room and all thoughts of Skye vanished from his mind.

Jason could hardly find a way to describe the vision in green before him. Her small bikini made her creamy flesh seem to glow, emphasizing her generous chest and hips. It made her freckled shoulders stand out even more, revealing so much of her beauty that Jason was at a loss. The minute he saw her he wanted to run up and take her into his arms, and it was only shock that kept him from doing just that.

She stood in front of him with her head held high like a model on display, and for once, it wasn’t a beaming grin on her face but a demure smile.

“What do you think?” She asked, and he struggled to find the right words.

“You look nice!” Andrew replied, and Jason came crashing back down to reality. That’s right. She was dressed for her Partner to admire. It wasn’t his place.

“Thank you for the compliment, you look nice as well,” Moira murmured, and for a second her eyes skipped over to Jason. The heat between them lasted only for an instant, but in those precious seconds Moira could see exactly what Jason thought about her, and her face reddened with pleasure.

Doctor Sylvia addressed the class when everyone was present.

“After we get to the beach, you’ll each go to your assigned beach umbrella and begin putting on sunscreen,” she instructed. She smiled. “However, you will not be applying sunscreen yourselves. Instead, your Partner will be applying sunscreen to you, just as we went over in class. When your group is finished, come find me, and I’ll assign you to a station. Sound good?”

Everyone cheered. They were dying for the ocean! Not one to keep them waiting, the doctor joined the teachers and they all headed down the hall.

The beach was magnificent as Jason remembered. Like the oxygen farm, Ai had spared no expense in recreating the ecological environment of old Earth. The sand was so white it was blinding, and the clear blue waves gently rolled up against it. The “ocean” spanned as far as the eye could see, blurring together with the blue sky on the horizon.

But of course, it wasn’t really there. That horizon was a picture on the telescreen. The endless expanse of beach around them was as well. In fact, the room was considerably smaller than the oxygen farm, roughly the size of the cafeteria. Visual effects only made it seem much bigger. The bungalow over to the left was a simulation as well; the only thing real about it was the door, which led to the living quarters for those staying the night.

Jason didn’t mind that it wasn’t real, though. As he felt the warm sun beating down on him and the sand squishing between his toes he knew it was real enough to him, more real than all those beaches he only saw in pictures and movies.

Jason and Skye reached their umbrella, located right beside Moira and Andrew’s. Jason laid down on their assigned towel and let Skye begin to apply the sunscreen. It felt great, having her fingers rub the substance into his skin, and he nearly drifted off to sleep.

Then it was time to switch. The white blended well with Skye’s pale skin, and Jason was sure to be careful. He didn’t want to hurt her, after all.

“Mmm, that feels nice,” Skye purred beneath him as he went down between her shoulder blades. Then he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye.

While Jason was applying sunscreen to his Partner, Andrew was doing the same with Moira. She’d undone her top and exposed her back to his lotioned-up hands, and he diligently rubbed the goopy white cream into her skin.

He was touching her. Rubbing his hands all over her! Jason had barely any contact with those areas himself, and Andrew was doing it without a care in the world! Just because he was her Partner, he thought that gave him the right to-

“Ow! Jason, that hurt!”

Startled, Jason pulled his hands back. He’d inadvertently put too much pressure on her shoulder when he rubbed it.

“S-Sorry,” he stuttered. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, it’s fine… don’t worry. Just be gentle.”

Jason tried to keep his mind off of Andrew as he resumed applying the lotion, trying to focus on taking care of Skye. But he couldn’t help the frustration welling up inside him.