@ BATH TIME

# By Andrew Campbell 1991


 Stone Bridge high didn't have a swimming baths facility, but swimming
was compulsary up until the fourth year (after which it was offered as
an option).
 Moorhill was the nearest school with a bath. It was a large and 
modern place, located in a well looked after and wholy respected 
district of Oldham. The trip had to be made by coach for the kids of
Stone Bridge, a journey of two and a half miles - once each week on
Tuesday afternoons.
 Most of the sporty, well built boys and girls loved to go, mainly
because it was a chance to show of beefy chests or curvacious bodies.
 For the others, including Carl and David, it was not such a pleasant 
outing. Neither boys were decent swimmers and often just paddled 
around in the water, separated from the others through lack of 
interest and enthusiasm. They didn't care really. To them, swimming
was a huge waste of time.
 Two classes had joined together to make one large group. Now, the 
coach was brimming with screaming, laughing voices and rocketing
screwed-up paper balls. Ashtrays were being tampered with, smelly fag 
ends and clumps of sticky silver paper shot across the coach from one 
end to the other, causing both David and Carl to slide back in their 
seats, out of firing range.
 Whilst Carl was laid flat back, clutching his school rucksack (which
was tightly packed with his swimming gear) he caught sight of a 
familiar item. It was Susie White's green and black jacket resting
on one of the nearby seat arms to the right of him, her pale hand
protruding out from the sleeve. He could see nothing more of her but
was surprised she had come along. He had never before been to the 
baths with her class; she would have caught his eye immediately. He 
found himself quite looking forward to seeing her in a swimming 
costume. 

                                  <>
 
 The boy's changing rooms were terribly wide and open, painted a blue
colour, as if to amplify the feeling of being cold and wet. For David
and Carl, the best bit was getting changed BACK into their clothes,
with the satisfying knowledge they had survived another afternoon at
Moorhill.
 Loud shouts echoed through the room as the kids placed on their 
swimming trunks. Cocks were glanced at secretly, just to make sure no 
one had an oddity. Royce tried to start up trouble by pissing on the 
floor right next to David and Carl - the two boys backed into the far
corner of the room, both utterly disgusted.
 By the time they were changed, the rest of the boys had left for the 
baths. Shouts could be heard, splashes and screams, along with the 
loud and piercing voice of Mrs Langhorn, the instructor.
 David slapped Carl on the back, "Lets get it over with."
 The pale skinny boy shivered and said morbidly, "Sure."
 Together they walked across the slippery tiled floor, past the unused
showering platform, and out into the open bathside. The boy's changing
rooms came out at the deep end of the pool, the girls' opposite at the
shallow end.
 All the big boys were chatting and laughing, looking at some of the
pretty girls, trying to show off muscle in some of the most ridiculous
manners. Carl and David quickly walked to the shallow end, their feet
slapping on the damp tiles. When they had positioned, they stared into
the gently moving water. Its surface flickered and danced, casting a
reflective image on the smooth green roof above. The whole hall was
alive with snake-like patterns of light. Below the water, blue lines
spanned out, wriggling and distorting under the gentle waves.
 Mrs Langhorn blew her loud silver sports whistle. She was a tall,
thin woman in her late thirties with long brown hair tied back in a
pony tail. Carl had noticed she always wore the same blue and red
tracksuit and was now beginning to wonder if she ever took it off.
 The kids stopped talking when the whistle had died away.
 Mrs Langhorn's voice was terribly difficult to apprehend. Whenever 
she spoke, her S's and C's whistled across the baths, piercing Carl's
ears painfully. He particularly hated it when she shouted.
 "WE'LL SSSTART WITH A SSSWIM ACROSSSSS THE WIDTH OF THE POOL!" she
bellowed, her words echoing and ringing in everyone ears. She was
about to blow her shining silver whistle when somebody tiptoed out 
from the girls' changing rooms.
 It was Susie White.
 Carl's eyes widened. David saw Carl's expression and became certain
his friend had the hots for the girl. Susie was dressed in a bright 
red swimsuit - much like a leotard - that seemed to fit her perfectly.
David noticed, not without feeling a bit guilty for looking, that she 
had the smallest breasts of all the girls.
 "HURRY UP GIRL!" Mrs Langhorn yelled.
 Susie was obviously scared of the instructor; her legs began to speed
up. She moved around the pool like a little hobbling penguin, and
received a massive roar of laughter from both girls and boys further
up.
 Quickly, head down with embarrassment and hands clasped between her 
legs, she paced around the baths to the shallow end. Carl didn't know
what to do when she stood next to him. He looked at David as if to say
"what's she stood so close for?" but David only winked and smiled.
 Susie looked up at Carl. Her teeth were chattering and her eyes were
filled with worry. It was obvious she hadn't much confidence at all, 
just like him and David. Carl was glad in a way.
 "READY!" Mrs Langhorn shouted, "SWIM!"
 All the biggest kids dived in at once, arcing into the freezing water
at full speed. David saw Royce do a fancy summersault, before opening 
up and piercing the water.
 David sighed, "Well, here we go." then leaped into the pool, landing
with a huge, noisy splash. Carl watched as the boy started to jump
around in the water. He was shivering already, putting both Susie and
Carl off the thought of joining him.
 "Better j-jump." Susie said to Carl in a soft voice.
 He looked at her, surprised she had spoken to him. He had a brief 
chance to admire her pretty face; bright blue-green eyes and a few
strands of hair trickling down. He thought she looked amazing.
 Feeling suddenly brave, he took a deep breath and made a mighty leap 
into the icy water in an attempt to impress her. When he turned 
around, his skin was goose-pimpled, and his teeth were rattling.
 Mrs Langhorn spotted Susie and began walk towards her quickly. Carl
noticed and realised the woman intended to push her in. She'd pushed
David in once and he'd almost drowned with shock.
 "Susie!" Carl called shakily, "J-Jump in! Quick!"
 The pale girl looked around and saw the instructor approaching. She
looked at Carl desperately. He waded upto the edge. "She'll th-throw
you i-in!" He told her. "Come o-on!"
 "It's cold!" Susie pulled a frightful face at the water. Mrs Langhorn
was rolling up her sleeves now.
 "Catch me!" Susie called, and before Carl could answer, leaped out
over the edge. She waved her arms about frantically, then hit the 
water just in front of Carl's face. He closed his eyes and tilted his 
head to avoid the huge spray of water, then held out his hands.
 Her head hadn't gone under but she still blew and blew through her 
mouth and kept her eyes closed. The rippling water calmed down and 
Carl shouted, "You d-did it!"
 Susie opened one eye, paused... then opened the other. Carl realised
he had his hands on her waist in reaction from trying to catch her. He
eased them away gently.
 She glanced down at his chest then and gave a brief grin.
 "M-my name's C-Carl." Carl announced.
 "I know." She said and looked away. He couldn't help but feel 
delighted that she had researched or inquired about him.
 David swam to them. Carl looked at him and then said quickly, "T-This
is my best friend, David Jackson."
 "Hi Susie." David said, water trickling from his quivering lips.
 She grinned, "Hi. C-cold isn't it?"
 All three of them started to jump up and down on the spot, laughing 
at each other. Carl ducked his head under the surface for a full ten 
seconds to impress Susie. When he resurfaced he was chuffed to see she
was giggling playfully at his actions.
 A whistle blew again, and the swimming stopped. All the kids 
clambered out of the pool, dripping wet, to sit on the cold slippery 
side, their feet dangling and splashing in the water.
 The kids were instructed to complete ten widths of the bath on their
backs, using mainly their legs to propel their bodies along. Upon his
own asking, Royce gave a demonstration to the others, showing off his
muscles with terrible obviosity. He made most of the girls scream in
excitement.
 Carl noticed Susie wasn't looking at Royce but at him instead. He
rolled his eyes and nodded towards Royce. She chuckled and nodded back
in agreement, much to his surprise.
 Another whistle and they were off again, back into the water. It
seemed warmer this time, and more pleasant. Neither Susie or Carl
hesitated to jump in this time, and they were beck to having fun in a
short while.
 By the time the whistle blew for them to get out and changed, bodily
contact was not as embarrassing as it had been at the start. Both Carl
and Susie had accidentally touched each other in delicate parts; it had
caused them to snatch their hands away in surprise, but neither had 
been at all bothered. And David had not felt left out. He agreed they
had all experienced the best swimming trip of their school lives. 
 And not once had Royce interfered.

                                  <>

 The changing rooms became crowded and noisy again with kids getting 
dry and towels whipping backsides. Several of the less popular kids 
were pissed on once more by Royce, who's cock was the only one with 
any hair on, but none of the others were brave enough to comment.
 Almost out of sight from the others, in the corner of the room, two 
boys laughed and giggled:
 "I touched her tits by accident!" Carl whispered hysterically. David 
bit into his green towel as he dried his face, to stop the laughter 
from echoing out.
 "Boy, it felt good!" Carl added, drying in between his legs. He then 
laughed at his own words and looked up at David., The boy was shaking 
his head.
 "Touch anything else?" He asked in undisguised interest.
 "Like what?" Carl said, as though he really didn't know.
 "Like anything... triangular?"
 That cracked them both up for the rest of the time it took to change.
Laughter escaped them in loud, hysterical bursts everytime they tried
to speak. Inbetween laughs, they added other comments in about the
infamous triangular thing, just to stir the joke up.

                                  <>

 When they were back on the coach, David and Carl sat behind Susie.
She peered over at them, grinning. They were still laughing at their 
joke. She asked them what was so funny, but they didn't tell her. Some
jokes, you just couldn't share with girls.
 When Susie tutted and moved away, Carl felt a little upset that she
might have thought the joke was an insult to her in some way. He 
turned to David for advice, and was told to go and sit with the girl,
talk to her... offer a place in their little gang.
 Nervously, Carl did as David had advised, and took the seat beside 
Susie. She avoided his eyes, staring out at the houses and trees 
rushing past the coach window.
 "We weren't laughing at YOU." He said, then waited for a response. He
hoped he hadn't offended her too much. Everything seemed to have gone
so well.
 She turned to him and shrugged, "I'm used to being laughed at."
 "But I promise we weren't-"
 "It's okay." She said, "I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion."
 Both of them were mute for a while, not knowing what to say next. 
Carl had a few lines in his mind, several about her wet, smooth hair.
He thought she looked very pretty, but didn't dare say so.
 "You want to join our gang?" He asked eventually.
 She looked at him, flattered, "Your gang?"
 "Well," He smiled, "It sounds like we go around killing people, but 
we don't at all. We're just a group of boys."
 She grinned, "You'd let a girl into your gang?"
 "Sure." He said. "I'd like..." 
 "What?"
 Carl swallowed and looked away, blushing. "Well, I'd like you to be
my friend... You're really nice."
 She looked out of the window, biting her lip. "You like me?"
 He said, "Course."
 "I'd like to join your gang."
 "Pardon? Did you say yes?" Carl was amazed.
 She turned to him and nodded, "If it's alright."
 "Yes!" He said and swung around in his seat, peering over the top at 
David, who had his head resting on the vibrating window. "Susie wants
to join our gang!"
 The girl quickly looked over at David and said, "Is it okay?"
 He laughed, "Fine by me."
 "Thanks." She said, "I've not been in a gang before."
 "There's only four of us so far." Carl admitted.
 "Including you, Susie." David added.
 But Susie didn't seem to be bothered. Not at all. She gave Carl a
bright, friendly smile, and stared at him for the most part of the 
trip back to Stone Bridge.