Lesson One, Part One.

Time: Late afternoon, a weekday
Place: College pool and locker room, deserted

Our heroines make their way through winding hallways, following the smell of chlorine.

“This must be it!” They peer through windowed doors.
“Oooh no!” moans Ms. Wet, “Uh uh.”
“What?”
“It’s 12 feet deep!”
“Well, surely there’s a shallow end!”
“Can you see it?”
They both lean all the way left, peering through the windows, trying to see the other end of the pool.
Ms. Dangerous says, “Well, it has to be there!” but it sounds more like a question.

With manufactured confidence, they venture on to the locker room. Blue and red lockers line the perimeter. They are strung with swim team suits and graffitied with messages. The center of the room has a drain and little else. An adjoining room holds two shower stalls and two miniscule bathroom stalls.

“I’ll change in the bathroom!” says Ms. Dangerous, “Let me know when it’s safe to come out!”

Finally they give each other the go-ahead. They approve the slimming qualities of each other’s swimsuits and they venture forth wrapped in towels, eyes rapidly scanning the hallway for students…faculty...campus police…coworkers…maintenance people…anyone they know, and anyone they might like to know.

Ms. Dangerous accidentally drops her towel more than once. Fortunately, the place is deserted, and Ms. Wet is focusing on breathing and picturing the shallow end.