“Spencer! Over here!” Finley said, leaning over the edge a little and waving me over.
My eyes searched the pools for Cricket, but I couldn’t find her in the crowd of thirty or so. I walked over to where Finley was and set my stuff down on the rocky edge of the spring pool.
“These are some friends of mine,” she said, gesturing to the gaggle of girls lining the pool with her. “They’ve expressed a desire to meet you,” she said, winking and smiling.
I shook my head a little. “Nice to meet you all,” I said, waving.
“This is Sarah,” Finley began at the far left.
I bent down and shook Sarah’s hand.
“Ava, Grace, Faith, Clementine, and Eliza.”
I shook each hand in turn.
“Very nice to meet you all.”
They all floated in silence as if waiting on something when it dawned on me that they were waiting for me to get in. I pulled off my shirt and tossed it with my towel. When I turned around their mouths were agape.
“What?” I asked.
“N-nothing,” Finley said, her eyes wide.
I got in with them and they situated me in the center of their line, then fanned around me. They asked me question after question about life in L.A., if I was going to stay in Montana, etc.
“I can’t stay,” I told them.
“Why not?” Finley said.
“I just-I can’t stay.”
“Oh,” Finley said, “you hate us,” she teased.
“No!” I insisted. “I think Montana is one of the best places on Earth and I’ve been all around the world. The people here are so amazing. It’s just that I, uh, need to finish school,” I lied.
“Maybe you could come back afterward,” Ava offered.
“Probably not,” I said.
“You got a girl back home or something?” Faith asked.
“No, not at all. I could never date any other type of girl than a Montana girl,” I charmed. “They will leave a lasting impression on me,” I laid on thickly.
They all aww’ed which made me laugh.
“So it’s settled then,” Eliza ribbed. “Spencer will have to come back to Montana.”
“Yes,” they all chimed in, clapping their hands and being very girly.
God, I’ve missed girls, I thought. Maybe that’s all you need is a little feminine attention to help you get over Cricket.
Just then Cricket walked toward our pool and I almost sank completely into the hot spring muttering “hummina-hummina-hummina.”
“Here comes Cricket,” Faith said, waving her over.
Cricket smiled and made her way straight for our pool. She wore a vintage forties cherry red one-piece that tied in a bow at the breasts. Her hair was up in a scarf and tied jauntily just below the crown. I wanted to die. How in the hell can this girl rock a one-piece better than any string I’ve ever seen in L.A.? When she saw me, her face fell and there was a slight hitch in her step but no one but myself noticed. Her smile picked back up and she stood at the outline of the pool.
“Hello, ladies!”