When Hwan came into the lunchroom the next day, she wasn’t sure where she was going to sit - should she keep hanging out with her fellow floaties, or go back to her old friends, where her altered form would stick out? But as it turned out, she didn’t need to make a choice. Surprisingly enough, she saw Amber sitting at the table with Hwan’s fellow pooltoy girls.
“Oh, hey, Hwan,” Natasha called out as the girl came up to the table. “We were just talking about our plans for spring break. Let me fill you in - no pun intended. There’s no way we could afford to all fly down to the beach together, right? But we had this idea. We could all get packed up and ride along in Amber’s luggage, and then we’d only have to pay for one plane ticket and one hotel room!”
Hwan froze. “I don’t know if I like this idea...”, she said slowly. The look Amber gave her wasn’t entirely reassuring, even as she was newly attracted to that face. Was that expression a kind smile or a plotting smirk? Hwan couldn’t tell. What was Amber doing here, anyway?
After an awkward pause, Maddie stepped into the conversation. “I think we need to apologize for what happened over the weekend,” she said. “None of us had any idea that Brad was going to be... like that.”
“There’s not gonna be another pool party at his house again, I can tell you that much,” offered Chloe.
“We kind of realized how helpful it is to always have a normal person around in case things go wrong,” Isabella added. “Like a designated driver. That’s why we invited Amber to join us. Besides, if we’re gonna do this, we definitely need someone with lungs to come along.”
“And I’m sure it was really scary for you and everything,” Maddie continued. “But deflation play can be really fun under the right circumstances, believe me. And I’m sure you’re aware by now that getting blown back up can make it all worth it.”
“Especially if you’re getting blown back up by your girlfriend,” Chloe teased.
“Hey, we’re not official yet!” Amber interjected. “But seriously, I think you should come along. You can trust me, right? I’m gonna bring an air compressor - there’s no way I can possibly fill up all of you by myself - but I’ll make sure to save up my breath for you, Hwan.”
All throughout this conversation, Hwan was only partly paying attention. Most of her thoughts were taken up by the ways this plan could go wrong. What if the luggage they were all in got lost? What would the rowdy crowd that shows up to the beach for spring break be like?
But Amber’s voice - and her face - were so soothing that it was almost hypnotic. Amber could probably convince her to do anything, if it ended with another inflation experience like the one they’d had before. She understood now what the other floaties had meant when they said it was addictive.
Still, Hwan couldn’t fully turn off the alarm bells in her mind, telling her not to go anywhere near another traumatic experience like the one she’d had at Brad’s house. Could she really go along with this? But could she really turn it down?