Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Thanks for driving us, Mom!”
Hailey smiled at her mother, who had just turned to look at her in the back seat as she reached for the door handle with her right hand. Her left hand rested on the mesh bag of swimming supplies in the center seat; a few towels, two pairs of goggles, and some diving sticks were visible, and a small pile of coins jingled at the bottom.
“No problem,” answered Sue, turning her gaze to Hailey’s left arm. “You should probably take off that watch before swimming, though; I don’t know if it’s waterproof.”
Hailey and Erin both looked at the watch that the younger had given to the older for her birthday. Hailey didn’t really want to take it off when she wasn’t home; after all, the last time she’d done that, she’d left it behind at the restaurant. But the gift meant too much to her to risk damaging it; she’d have to take it off. And she couldn’t just put it in their mesh bag; anybody could just walk off with it while they were swimming!
“Could you hold on to it while we swim, mom?” she asked, beginning to unfasten it from her wrist.
“Of course,” her mother replied, taking the watch and putting it in her own purse when Hailey offered it. “Anyway, I’ll be back at four to pick you two up, okay?”
The dashboard clock read 1:10 PM, giving the girls just under three hours at the pool. They both nodded their approval, and Erin offered her aunt another round of thanks for her driving services as the girls exited the car.
“You really do wear that watch all the time, don’t you?” asked Erin, a twinge of pride in her voice. She’d apparently done a good job by picking that as a birthday present.
Hailey saw that Erin was staring at her now-bare wrist; the tan line where the watch normally sat was very pronounced. “I pretty much only take it off when I sleep. I really like it; you picked a good gift.”
Of course, Hailey realized, she probably would have liked anything Erin gave her, but a watch was especially good; it performed a useful function, and she could have it with her at all times.
Hailey handed two laminated cards to the teen behind the front counter, and they proceeded through a hallway to the main pool deck. As she exited the hallway, Erin could see that the entrances to the locker rooms faced the pool on the same wall as the door she’d just walked through; the boys’ room was to her right, and her own room was to the left. A little beyond the door to the girls’ locker room, she could see what looked like the edge of a metal counter jutting out at about her belly height. A snack shop, perhaps?
The hot concrete she was now standing on stretched straight to the pool. The main section of the pool was rectangular, about three times as wide as it was long, and ran parallel to the entry and locker building she’d just stepped out of. On the right side of the rectangle, jutting away from the building, was a square section with diving boards; obviously, it was the deep end. Pointing towards the building on the left side of the pool was a much shallower section, full of children much younger than her. The entire setup reminded her of a very sharp letter S.
The other three sides of the pool were surrounded by grass and a chain link fence, with plenty of reclining pool chairs. There was significantly more grass between the fence and the edge of the concrete pool deck on the left side than any other side, and Erin was surprised to see a swing set and a simple jungle gym adorning the space, both closer to the fence than the pool. It was in this direction that they began to head, allowing Erin to confirm that the counter she’d seen did, in fact, belong to the pool’s snack shop. Hailey led her to a pair of empty deck chairs, walking as close to the edge of the pool as she could in order to keep her bare feet on the cooler, wet concrete surface. Each girl pulled a towel out of the swimming bag and blanketed her chair with it in order to stake her claim on the seat.
“So, are you ready to swim?” asked Hailey, donning her goggles.
The pool was more crowded than Erin would have preferred, full of children who, like them, were undoubtedly here to enjoy their last day of summer vacation. Still, the cold water looked very inviting as the sun beat down on her shoulders. She’d be okay.
“Sure,” she said, pulling her own recently-bought pair of goggles out of the bag. “Let’s go.”
Hailey grinned, and jumped into the middle section of the pool, just across from their chairs.
Erin was more subtle with her entry into the pool; she climbed in gracefully, nearly shivering as the water enveloped her body from the legs up, eventually stopping a little above her belly. The edge between dry and wet skin always felt the coldest to her, so to alleviate that, she elected to do as Hailey had done and immerse her whole body. She resurfaced quickly and shook her head to get the excess water off her face, then looked around for Hailey, who was now a few yards away from her.
The two girls spent the better part of twenty minutes chasing each other around in the middle section of the pool, playing with each other what seemed to be an improvised game of tag. After a little while, though, Erin began to slow down a little bit. Hailey noticed and swam back to her, and Erin leaned over to her ear to offer an explanation.
“I think I’d better visit the toilet,” Erin whispered.
“Would you like me to come with you?” asked Hailey.
“No, that’s okay,” admitted Erin. “I might be a while.”
“Oh, did you just now get the need to…”
“Yeah. I’d better take care of it now.”
“Well, hurry, then! Don’t let me hold you up!”
Truthfully, Erin decided, she could probably hold it a bit longer. But, as little as she liked having accidents in general, she really didn’t want to have an accident in these circumstances. A hundred people would be able to see an accident that her swimsuit would stand no chance of hiding the bulge from. She also knew this one would likely be particularly messy; although she’d quickly gotten over her sickness, there’d apparently been a lingering effect on her stool; she hadn’t had any more accidents, but it was still generally more difficult to wipe up after than she cared for. But even without those reasons, she simply couldn’t bear the thought of making her swimsuit messy again. She knew that it was irrational, since there was no way she’d receive that type of punishment from her Uncle Martin or Aunt Sue, but it still made her shudder just to even consider having an accident now.
The locker room was significantly darker than her eyes were used to; it took a moment before she could see. She didn’t care for the room at all; the cinder block walls, concrete floor, and exposed piping in the ceiling overhead all combined with the relatively poor lighting to create a dungeon-like effect.
Surprisingly, with as crowded as the pool was, the locker room was relatively empty. There was a woman with a small girl in one corner of the room, apparently a mother and daughter; the girl was still fully clothed and apparently watching her mother get changed while waiting to be helped into her own swimsuit. Another woman, a bit younger than the first, was changing a little ways away from them.
“Locker room” was a misnomer, Erin decided, as there was only one small bank of lockers in the room; all with identical padlocks hanging from them; she supposed that the lockers were either for the staff of the pool or some sort of swim team. The rest of the room simply had a bench running along the wall, with the exception of the back section, which housed the showers, sinks, and toilet stalls.
The toilets weren’t any dirtier than usual for a public restroom, but the dim lighting made them appear worse than they actually were, and for a brief moment, Erin considered waiting until she got home. She quickly returned to her senses, though; considering how successful she’d been in avoiding accidents this summer, there was no way she could justify waiting over two more hours to go. It had to be now.
The middle of the three toilets looked the cleanest, so it was into that stall that Erin went. She shut the door, pulled down her swimsuit, and sat on the seat, grimacing as the pool water that had been clinging to her skin lubricated the seat, making it feel like she could slide around at any minute if she wasn’t careful. It was the same feeling as when she tried to use the toilet immediately after taking a shower — no matter how carefully she dried her bottom off before sitting, there always seemed to be a little water left on it to make the seat slippery. She wasn’t looking forward to having to handle the toilet paper with clammy hands.
Her body relaxed, bringing forth both urine and a burst of loud flatulence that echoed mightily off of the smooth walls. Erin heard a giggle from the young girl, and blushed as she heard the girl’s mother shush her.
By the time Erin finished her bowel movement, the locker room had become significantly more crowded; she could hear many voices now, and several people successively had used the toilet on either side of her. She was mildly embarrassed that she was apparently unable to remain silent while performing her business, but there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it; all she could do was hope the people in the locker room were polite enough to not stare at her when she finally left the stall. Sighing silently to herself, she began the arduous task of wiping up the sticky mess from her rear.
She intentionally avoided making eye contact with anybody else in the locker room when she ultimately exited the stall; she didn’t have the heart to see if they were looking at her or not, so her gaze remained firmly on her toes as she washed her hands and left the locker room. Only when her eyes had once again adjusted to the sunlight did she bother to look up again, and she noticed that the pool was now nearly empty; all of the children were either at their chairs or playing in the grassy area with the playground equipment. Erin found Hailey sitting at their chairs; she sat down as well.
“It’s the fifteen-minute break,” Hailey explained. “All the kids under 16 have to get out of the pool for fifteen minutes an hour — they blow the whistle to let you know when that starts and ends.”
Erin nodded.
“I don’t really get it, though,” Hailey continued. “Is it because they’re worried that kids might not know how long they can swim before they get too tired to be safe?”
“Maybe they just want to give the adults a peaceful time every once in a while so they can swim around without running into screaming kids,” Erin suggested.
“Maybe,” humphed Hailey, apparently indignant that she might be considered annoying to the adults. “But anyway, how are you? Do you feel better?”
“Yeah, much better,” admitted Erin. “Though it was a bit messier — and louder — than I would have preferred.”
Hailey grinned at her cousin, and was about to open her mouth to say something when they heard the whistles, indicating that the kids could get back in the pool.
“Oh, look,” said Hailey, noticing the line forming at the deep end, “they’ve opened the diving boards. Would you like to dive?”
“Sure,” said Erin. She removed her goggles from her forehead, leaving them on her seat. Hailey did the same.
The two diving boards were both the same height from the water. Erin and Hailey each got in a separate line, Hailey allowing someone to cut in front of her so that she’d be on the boards at the same time as her cousin. The strategy worked; both girls ended up standing at the top of their respective ladder at the same time, and with a nod to each other, propelled themselves down their boards to make one combined splash.
They continued this strategy for the remainder of the 45 minute swimming period. Luckily, the lines for the diving boards weren’t very long compared to the speed at which they were moving, so the pair had gotten quite a large number of synchronized dives in before they heard the whistle sound again.
Leaving the dissolving lines, they headed back to their seats, both drying themselves off briefly with their towels before laying the towels back on the chair and taking a seat.
“We’ve got a bit over an hour left,” noted Erin, glancing at a clock hanging on the wall near the snack bar.
Hailey instinctively looked down at her wrist and quickly remembered she wasn’t wearing her watch. She followed Erin’s gaze and eventually found the clock that Erin had been monitoring. “Yeah, we’ll have one more session of swimming, and then we’ll need to go wait out front for my mom to pick us up,” she said. “Anyway, did you want to get a snack?”
“If you’re going to,” said Erin. “If you’re not, I’ll be fine without one.”
“Let’s get some ice cream sandwiches, okay?”
Erin nodded. She was somewhat glad Hailey had decided that they should get snacks; she did want ice cream, but it would have been rude to ask for it herself. They dug some change out of the bottom of the swimming bag and approached the counter.
Upon returning to their seats, ice cream sandwiches in hand, Hailey spoke up. “I am not looking forward to waking up early tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” admitted Erin. “Me neither. What time do we have to actually leave? You said we’re walking to school, right?”
“Yeah, we’re walking; it’s only about twenty minutes away. Last year, my mom would drive me if I asked her, but I usually only asked if the weather was really bad or something. I enjoy walking, though, so that probably helps.”
“Yeah, walking’s fine with me,” said Erin. “But can’t we ride bikes?”
“There’s not really anywhere good to leave the bikes when we get to the school,” explained Hailey. “You’d think they’d have a bike rack or something, but then again, most of the students just ride the bus anyway. Anyway, school starts at eight, and it’s about a twenty minute walk, but I found last year that it’s best to leave at 7:30, to give us some safety.”
“So that means… if we both take showers, we’ll have to get up sometime around six?”
“Probably. We’ll see after a few days how long it actually takes us, but you really are pretty quick in the shower.”
“I just don’t like to waste time,” admitted Erin. “Still, waking up at six won’t be fun, not after what we’re used to for the summer.”
“We’ll have to make sure to go to bed pretty early tonight.” Hailey began to lick off her fingers to remove the residue from the ice cream sandwich’s chocolate wafers.
Their conversation dwindled, but it seemed luck was on their side; the fifteen minute break ended just as they were beginning to get bored.
The diving boards were no longer open, meaning that the deep end of the pool was available for swimming, and Hailey fully intended to take advantage of this. She grabbed the diving sticks from the bag, donned her goggles, and watched as Erin fitted her goggles as well.
The girls seemed to be equally agile at underwater swimming; neither of them had any difficulty retrieving the sticks the other dropped. Hailey was impressed at Erin’s ability to hold her breath, though; her cousin could easily pick up nearly twice as many sticks on a given dive as she could.
Time flew by as the girls continued to take turns diving for the weighted plastic rods; both of them seemed shocked when it was yet again time to get out of the pool. The feeling was especially bitter as they knew that they wouldn’t be going back into the pool. Mrs. Summers would be coming to pick them up within the next fifteen minutes, and they needed to pack.
There really wasn’t much to pack, though; the goggles and diving sticks went straight into the bag, and each girl dried herself quickly. A quick glance at the snack shop clock indicated that they still had a few more minutes before they had to go wait out front, and Hailey decided to use the idle time to take care of some personal business.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom, Erin. Do you need to come?”
Erin honestly did not need to go. It had only been about two hours since she’d last used the toilet, and while it would generally be a good idea to try to go anyway, she really didn’t want to enter that dungeon-like restroom again. “I’ll be fine, I’ll just wait out here.”
Hailey shrugged and sat her towel back down on the chair. It seemed unusual that Erin wouldn’t want to try, but she certainly knew the risks involved in not trying, so whatever the reason, she probably knew what she was doing. There really wasn’t much point in pushing the issue with Erin; if she didn’t want to come, then she didn’t want to come.
She realized that it probably would have been prudent to visit the toilet earlier. While she wasn’t in danger of wetting herself, the pressure was certainly uncomfortable. Although all three toilet stalls were occupied when she reached them, there was no line, so she was able to claim the first stall that opened.
The stall felt a bit claustrophobic; the dim room combined with the dark brown they’d decided to paint the stall walls and doors certainly contributed. Hailey wondered why they’d painted it so dark; maybe it was to cut down on graffiti, but she could still see a very naughty poem written in marker on the back of the door.
She began to remove her swimsuit, when she paused. The swimsuit was already wet… and she certainly wouldn’t mind a little “accident,” especially since nobody could find out. To the other people in the bathroom, it would simply sound like she was peeing in the toilet. Of course, that was exactly what she would be doing… she’d just neglect to get her swimsuit out of the way first.
Hailey pulled the shoulders of the swimsuit back into place, and sat down on the toilet. She began to relax and was just about to release her urine when she suddenly clenched back up.
Erin.
Erin hadn’t wanted her to have an accident in the swimsuit earlier today; as Hailey had guessed, it seemed like she must have had such an accident herself at some point, and something bad happened because of it. She probably shouldn’t do this, but…
But she really wanted to have this accident. Just as with her wetting earlier today, and a number of other recent times she’d donned a diaper, Hailey felt an immense desire to have an accident, much stronger than her current physical need to urinate could account for. The combination of the naughty deed she was so close to committing and the knowledge that there was absolutely zero chance that she would be caught overwhelmed her. Erin wouldn’t know. She didn’t think she could lie to Erin, but if Erin never asked, then she wasn’t exactly lying, was she?
A stream of warm liquid began to flow through the fabric of her swimsuit and into the waiting toilet below.