This was it. No turning back now. Bernadette's heart had never beat so fast and she was sure her hands were shaking. Even in her bikini, she already felt naked. As if everyone around them knew what was about to happened and was just waiting to see her in her full, naked and embarrassed glory.
Of course, nobody knew. Why would they? How could they possibly know that Bernadette and Robin were about to be seen naked by any of the hundred or so people in that area of the water park who happened to be in the vicinity of this particular slide.
They stood together at the top of the slide, so close to the front. There were three tubes in front of them and one by one they'd watched the other park guests vanish into the darkness of the tubes. Barring some unfortunately wardrobe malfunction, those hundreds of other guests would arrive at the bottom not naked.
"Next." The lifeguard called the next three forwards, looking appropriately bored and sun-baked.
He was attractive, Bernadette thought as she ran her eyes up and down his shirt-less form, and realized he would likely be missing out on the view, stuck up here. Maybe he'd catch a glimpse as she set off. She felt a equally powerful mixture of embarrassment and excitement at that. She'd worked hard to look good in a bikini and would loved for him to be checking her out right now.
Ideally, she'd be keeping it on all day but then they'd lost the bet. See, Bernadette and Robin loved going to the movies with Marie, the final third of their long-time friendship. They especially loved all the recent superhero movies, having all been big comic book fans as children. They'd been ecstatic for the new Batman v Superman movie, even if it was directed by that guy, just to see these two icons interact on screen for the first time ever. It being released while they were on their Spring Break vacation was even better.
Having heard the... mixed reception, they decided to go in a little tipsy, make it more fun. And being drunk, they decided to bet on who would win the big fight. Batman or Superman himself. They'd been planning on the water park the next day, so the stakes had swung towards the park and the bet was made.
Only Marie had predicted correctly.
"I said next."
Bernadette shook herself out of her thoughts as she realized he'd been talking to her. The terror setting in afresh, she walked passed the lifeguard and sat herself in the tube, her butt on the ledge so she didn't get swept away yet. She thought anybody would be able to hear her heart pounding against her ribs, but no one seemed able to.
She looked across at her friend, who had settled in similarly next to her. Robin was a little heavier than Bernadette, but she thought her friend looked cute in her little two piece, chosen to be easy to remove quickly. She'd already caught a few guys checking her out, even if Robin didn't believe her.
"You alright, Bernie?" Robin shot over, trying to hide her own nervousness.
Bernadette smiled and nodded. "You?"
Robin looked down and let out a deep breath. "Hell no."
They laughed, knowing it was true for them both. But a bet was a bet and they were in a foreign place, where nobody knew them. If ever there was a time to do something so crazy, stupid and wild, it was now.