The woman led him out into the hall and towards her room. "I can tell you're new at this," she said. "You had that look that a lot of first-timers get. And I just hate to see the newbies sit there paralyzed by indecision all evening when they could be enjoying themselves. So don't you worry, I'll help you get used to this."
"Th-thanks," Jon said, his mind racing. Was this really some kind of adult gathering? Was she going to-?
His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at her room. She slipped the keycard into the slot and opened the door, ushering him in. The room looked like most of the other rooms in the hotel, but had a number of personal decorations; did this woman live here or something?
She sat him down in one of the chairs around the little card table by the window, then asked how old he was. Jon told her, and she produced a bottle of soda from the minifridge and poured him a glass; she must have been checking to see if he could have alchohol, Jon thought.
"Now you just wait here," she said. "I spotted another newbie about your age; I'll be back in a minute." She left, leaving Jon alone with his drink. He wondered what could be going on. If this was a sex party, why the hell would his parents have brought Mikey? For that matter, why would they have brought any of their children?
The door opened, and the woman walked in, escorting a girl about Jon's age. She was Asian, with neck-length silky black hair, small but not frail, not especially shapely, but reasonably attractive nonetheless. The woman sat her down across from Jon. "This is Jon," she said. "He's new here, too. He'll be your partner for this retreat. If you'll excuse me for a minute, I have some business to take care of, and then we can get started."
The woman went into the bathroom, and Jon and the girl stared at each other. "D-do you know what's going on?" she asked. Jon shook his head. "Not a clue. You?"
She shook her head as well. "I don't know. My parents said we were going to a retreat, but they never told me what we were going to do here, and everybody else already seems to know. You don't think it's a, you know...?"
Jon shrugged. "I can't say for sure, but it kinda seems like it. Were you planning on...?"
The girl shrugged. "I-I don't even know. I had no idea it would be like this until we got here..."
The bathroom door opened, and the woman walked out. "Sorry for the delay," she said. "But now we can get you two started. Face each other, close your eyes, and take a deep breath."
Jon hesitated for a moment. Did he really want to do this? Well, it would be pretty awkward to back out now. He closed his eyes, breathed in...
...and opened his eyes to see himself.
