City Secrets (23 page)

“But also awesome,” I said.

After what felt like hours, but was really only a few minutes, Paul pulled up to a place called Bliss.

“This is it,” Heather said.

We said bye to Paul and got out of the car. The spa's outside was
so
cute! The overhang was pale blue, and the lettering on the door was white. I followed Heather inside and smelled so many calming and amazing scents—lemon, eucalyptus, lavender, and a few others I didn't recognize.

A waterfall cascaded down the main wall, making a soothing noise. I'd been inside for only a few seconds and I felt so serene.

Heather and I walked up to the counter.

“Hi,” Heather said to the receptionist. “We have appointments for Heather Fox and Sasha Silver.”

“One moment, please,” said the receptionist. She flipped through a pink-and-white date book, then nodded. “I see you're both having full treatments done today. You'll have a lovely time, and enjoy Bliss!”

“Thanks,” we both said.

The woman handed us two plastic-sealed packages.

“Inside each package,” she said, “is a robe, disposable bikini, and a pair of slippers. Please change into those
and we'll get you started. The changing rooms are straight down this hallway.”

Heather and I found two empty rooms, and when I slipped into my fluffy white robe, I wanted to snuggle my face into it.

So. Soft.

I slid my feet into the equally comfy terry-cloth flip-flops and walked out. Heather emerged a second later, and a woman with perfect skin—would mine look like that after the treatments?—met us with a smile.

“Hi,” she said. “Let me take your clothes and hang them up. I'm Emily and I'll be making sure you get to all of your sessions on time today.”

“I'm Sasha,” I said.

Heather offered Emily a hand. “And I'm Heather.”

“Well, Sasha and Heather,” Emily said. “Let's get you to your first treatment. Please follow me.”

Heather and I followed Emily down a white hallway with a thin pink stripe running along the center of the wall.

“I've been here a few times, so I picked out the best treatments,” Heather said.

“That's cool,” I said. “I wouldn't have had any clue what to get.”

Emily led us to an open, airy room and handed us two towels.

“Wrap up your hair,” she said. “Then have a seat. Your chairs are massage chairs that are heated. You'll be starting with a light exfoliation facial. Then you'll get a clarifying mask that will help with any blemishes or excess oil your face might have. I'll be back in about forty-five minutes to take you to your next session.”

I climbed into my seat and settled back. Ooh, it
was
warm. I reached for the controller and played with the buttons. A nice rolling feeling started up and down my back, and I took a long breath as the massage chair got to work on the kinks in my back and neck.

“This is amazing,” I said to Heather.

“Totally. And they haven't even started the facials yet.”

Two women walked into the room and consulted clipboards. They started mixing two batches of something peach colored in small bowls. They sat on rolling stools beside Heather and me. Everyone wore all white and just exuded calm—if that was possible. Barely audible classical music played in the background, and I sank even deeper into my chair as my facialist put on gloves with tiny bumps on them and dipped her fingers into her mixing bowl. She smeared some of the mixture, which
smelled like apricot, onto each of my cheeks, then put down the bowl.

I closed my eyes as she massaged the mixture into my face. I felt little exfoliating beads of something on my cheeks as she rubbed in circles.

It can't get any better than this,
I thought. I kept my eyes closed and imagined how my skin would look when I left. It would be pretty and smooth when I went back to school.

After several minutes of the facialist rubbing the fruit-scented mix on my face, I felt a hot but not scalding washcloth. My facialist took her time wiping my face until all of the mixture was gone.

“Wow,” I said, opening my eyes. “Thank you. That felt great.”

She smiled at me. “You're welcome. I should have introduced myself before. I'm Anna.”

“Sasha,” I said.

Anna tossed the exfoliant mix and started pouring liquids and squeezing creams into another bowl. I touched a finger to my cheek.

Wow. So soft!

I looked over at Heather, who still had her eyes closed and her head resting back.

Anna came back and sat beside me. I closed my eyes as
she brushed a thin layer of something tingly on my face. It smelled so good—like mint.

“We're going to let that dry for about twenty minutes, then I'll peel it off,” Anna said. “Relax in the meantime, and if you'd like, there are magazines in a basket beside you.”

“Thanks,” I said.

But I didn't feel like reading about the latest celebrity scandal. I wanted to sit back and enjoy every second of the spa environment.

It felt as if Anna came back almost a minute later, but she assured me it had been at least twenty. She peeled the mask from my face and squirted lotion into her hands.

“This moisturizer will make your skin even softer,” she said. She reached over and held up a mirror. “Your face looks even more gorgeous.”

I looked in the hand mirror, almost shocked by what I saw. The usual redness around my nose was gone, I couldn't see one blackhead, and my face just
looked
soft.

“Thank you so much!” I said. “My skin has never looked this good. Ever.”

Anna smiled and took the mirror. I looked over, and Heather nodded at me.

“They're pretty good, huh?” she asked.

“So good,” I said.

Emily walked into the room. “Did you enjoy your facials?” she asked.

“They were excellent, thank you,” Heather answered, as I nodded.

“Wonderful! Up next is your body scrub.”

Emily led us to a smaller room where everyone was separated by curtains. Men and women walked in and out of the curtained partitions and carried jars of different lotions and scrubs.

“Inside, hang up your robe on the hook and lie on the table,” Emily said. “Someone will be with you right away. You're both getting the cream and sugar scrub, which will make you smell sweet and feel supersoft.”

Emily pulled back a curtain and waved her hand, motioning me inside. The curtain swished behind me, and I took off my robe.

I got on the table, resting my head on the soft pillow.

“Hi, Sasha,” a woman said, stepping beside me. She had silky black hair that was pulled back in a high ponytail. Her dark skin looked so smooth that I wondered if she got facials here every day. “I'm Keisha and I'm going to do your body scrub. You picked a great scrub—it's one of my favorites.”

I smiled at her. “I came with my friend who comes here a lot, and she said it was awesome.”

“You'll love it,” Keisha said. She put a large bowl of scrub that smelled like just-out-of-the-oven vanilla cake at the end of the table. She took my hand and started rubbing the mixture on my hand and massaged it up to my elbow.

An hour later I was almost asleep as Keisha finished rubbing my foot.

“Was the scrub as good as your friend said it was?” Keisha asked.

“Better,” I said. “That felt so good. Thank you.”

Keisha smiled. “Walk straight forward to the showers. Rinse off the scrub, and then your guide will be here to take you to the next part of your treatment.”

“Okay, thanks again.” Keisha pulled back the curtain for me, and I walked to a glass door with showers etched on it. I pulled open the door and saw several showerheads. Some of the showers had sliding doors and others were public, like at a gym.

I was in a bikini, so I turned on one of the public showers and started rinsing off under the warm water. It was like Keisha had taken off a layer of my skin, but it didn't hurt. My elbows and knees had
never
been this smooth.

“Hey,” Heather said. She walked over and turned on the shower next to me. She was covered in gritty scrub too. “Did you like it?”

“Like? Loved. I feel sooo relaxed.”

Heather rinsed off her arms. “Me too. I think the mineral-water whirlpool is next.
That's
awesome.”

“Then why are we in here?” I asked.

Heather nodded. “True.”

We finished rinsing off and grabbed our robes. Emily, looking around, spotted us. Heather turned out to be right—the whirlpool was next. Heather and I got into the clear water and sat on padded ledges. The pool bubbled and the jets pushed the water against my freshly scrubbed skin. There was no one else in our whirlpool, so I stretched out my legs and ran my fingers through the water.

“So now I'm going to have to find a spa near Canterwood,” I said. “I'm addicted.”

Heather smiled. “I thought you would be. It's the most relaxing thing ever.”

We fell into comfortable silence and enjoyed the whirl of the bubbles until Emily came to get us for our final treatment—lotion.

Keisha turned out to be the one who applied my coat of thick, creamy lotion to my skin. I had to sit in my robe
for twenty minutes before she told me I could go change into my regular clothes.

I changed and found Heather in the hallway. She dug into her purse and pulled out a familiar credit card.

“Are you sure I can't pay for
some
thing?” I asked. “I have an emergency credit card.”

“Stop it,” Heather said. “My mom's paying for this. She owes us, so get over it.”

I wanted to argue with her, but I knew I'd lose. “Okay. Thank you. Really.”

“Just try to maintain that look when we get back to school,” Heather said, eyeing me. “Or at least some of it.”

I half-rolled my eyes.

Heather finished paying the bill and texted Paul to come get us.

“We'll grab lunch on the way home,” Heather said. “Since it'll be your last lunch in the city, you can pick if you want.”

I grinned. “Really? Then the Shake Shack for sure.”

And as we walked outside to wait for Paul, I couldn't believe it was my last lunch in the city. At the beginning of the week I'd dreaded break—afraid that Heather and I would kill each other after spending a week together. But we'd become better friends than I'd thought possible, and I couldn't imagine a better break.

 22 

ON SUNDAY MORNING I WOKE UP AND STARED at the ceiling. I'd spent my last night here, and tonight I'd be in my own bed in my dorm with Paige. I didn't want to think about that this early in the day, but I was going to be seeing her soon. And now I thought I was finally ready to talk. I didn't want life with my roommate and BFF to be uncomfortable, and I was sure Paige and I could work it out—I'd just needed time to see that.

Then I thought about the good things about going back to school. Like seeing Charm, prepping for the show, and figuring out my new friendship with the Trio.

I got out of bed and pulled a robe on over my T-shirt
and pajama pants. Heather's door was open and her room was empty. She had suitcases open, and a pile of clothes was on her already made bed.

I walked to the breakfast table and found her eating Greek yogurt with granola.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” she said back. “I can't believe it's the last day of break. It went by so fast.”

“I know.” I put a plain bagel on my plate and reached for the strawberry-flavored cream cheese. “We're going to be so busy when we get back. I have all of my homework to do today and tonight.”

Heather laughed. “Me too. It was ridiculous to assign homework over break. But whatev—that's Canterwood for you.”

We ate our breakfast and I smiled at Helen when she started clearing our plates.

“Thank you for everything,” I said to her. “I appreciate it.”

Helen nodded. “Of course, Sasha. It was great to have you as a guest. I hope to see you again soon.”