I license this and any future works under CC-BY-NC-4.0

Hi, everyone. This is my first time trying to write something like this, so any constructive criticism is appreciated. It ended up being longer than planned, even after cutting a scene.

I hope you enjoy it.

The last thing Abbie Clark thought she'd be doing on her best friend's twentieth birthday was being covered in food. But then again, Leah wasn't exactly what you'd call normal. She'd shown Abbie an advert online for a crazy obstacle course that promised "fantastic rewards for those brave enough to face the gunge", and Abbie had laughed it off. But here she was with Leah and their friend Emily, who Leah had somehow convinced to come on the expedition, standing outside the entrance. The weirdest thing: Abbie was actually looking forward to it.

The course was set up in a massive warehouse someplace in the countryside everyone had forgotten about. Peeling paint, rusted doors, it looked like a place you would go to get murdered. Yet the sweet aroma wafting through the open doors beckoned the three girls inside.

The first room was dominated by a vast, neon grid set into the floor. Most of the squares were lit up blue, but a few shifted to red as Abbie watched. The white walls were filled with dozens of holes, only darkness beyond. Somewhat hesitant, the three girls walked towards the edge of the grid and watched as the red squares started moving in seemingly random directions. Abbie counted in her head. The metre-wide squares appeared to shift every second.

"Hum . . ." Leah said, fiddling with a lock of brown hair. "I guess we're not supposed to stand on those."

Abbie kept her eyes on the grid, trying--but failing--to spot a pattern. "Looks like it's completely random," she said. "We'll just have to try and avoid them."

"Do we run?" Leah asked.

"No." Emily glanced at the squares. "We have no idea where they're gonna move. We'd probably just run into them."

"Okay," Abbie said. "Should we go together?"

Emily frowned. "No, if we got surrounded, we'd have less space to move."

Leah nodded. "Alright then, ready to go?"

Abbie walked to the right side of the room and Leah to the left. Emily had the centre, giving her the most room to manoeuvre.

"Three, two, one, go!" Leah shouted, and the girls stepped onto the grid.

Fortunately, Most of the red tiles were on Leah's side of the board, so Abbie made swift progress. The other two were slower. Leah walked within centimetres of a tile while Emily yelped as three squares moved towards her. The red squares shifted back towards Leah, and Emily rushed forward over the clear path. Leah looped back around and used the same way Emily had until the squares cut her off. She leapt over one, barely clearing it, before once again being separated from Emily.

When they were halfway across the room, a new set of squares winked red, two blocking Abbie's path. Heartrate increasing, she wove between them, and they moved behind her, cutting her off. To her left, Emily was panicking. Most of the new squares had appeared near her, and she could barely avoid them. Eyes wide, she leapt away from one, but a second moved under her as she landed.

The floor vibrated, and Emily gasped. Something flew out the hole in front of her and hit her square in the face with a splat. She screamed and staggered backwards, her features obscured by a mask of cream.

"Emily!" Abbie called, still shocked at what had just happened.

Oblivious to her surroundings, Emily stepped back onto another red tile. The following pie hit her in the side of the head, splattering cream over her red hair. She frantically wiped her face, but another tile moved underneath her before she could clear her eyes. More cream splashed over her hair and dripped onto her shoulders. Still trying to wipe her eyes, she blindly rushed forward and triggered another pie. Cream engulfed her head and splattered down the front of her pink hoodie. She screamed, but the mask of gunk muffled the sound.

Abbie was so absorbed with Emily's misfortune that she almost stepped on a square herself. Startled out of her daze, she jumped and barely cleared it. Across the room, a path cleared between Leah and Emily, and Leah ran through to help. Still blinded, Emily took one more pie before Leah reached her.

She grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her across the grid, trying to calm her down. Abbie hastened after them.

One row of squares before the end, a red tile moved under them. Leah pushed Emily to the side, and she staggered off the grid, missing the pie by centimetres. Leah, on the other hand, got the pie square in her chest. Despite stumbling from the impact, she made it to the other side before she could take any more projectiles.

All sense of caution gone, Abbie ran towards the end where a stubborn square blocked her exit. Piling on speed, she leapt over the tile, skirt flaring, and stumbled to a stop on the other side. Abbie caught her breath, then hurried over to the other two to check on them. Emily looked dazed as she tried to clean herself up. Her face and hair were coated in a thick, white mask, and the gunk was splattered down her hoodie. Leah's head was spotless, though her black t-shirt and plum jacket were covered in goo. She wiped cream off her top and flicked it at Abbie.

"Hey!" she said, wiping it off her face.

"What?" Leah flicked some more. "How come you get to stay clean?"

Abbie dodged the flying cream. "Skill."

Leah smiled. "Sure." She tried to help Emily clean up, though without much success. Her hair was completely matted.

Abbie was confused. On the one hand, she wanted to avoid the mess at all costs. But on the other, some irrational part of her brain felt excited at the prospect of getting messy. She thought of pies hitting her in the face, of sweet cream covering her hair and running down her neck, of it pouring over her t-shirt and running inside her clothes.

She shook herself. What the hell was wrong with her? Her best friend had just been hit with ten pies, and this was how she comforted her? She walked over to Emily, who had mostly cleaned off her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Emily nodded but didn't say anything.

"If we ever have to do something like that again, I promise I'll go in front."

Emily nodded again and stood up. "Thanks, I'm alright."

Leah gave the grid of pies a final glance, then headed towards the door. "Any guesses on what's coming next?"

***

Abbie wasn't sure what to make of the next area. There were three long boxes on the other side of the room, each long enough for a person to lie on. The boxes were connected to metal tracks, but they just seemed to end at the opposite wall.

The girls walked towards the obstacle, noticing some buttons built into each box. The boxes were padded, more like beds than anything else.

"What do we do?" Leah asked, inspecting one of the contraptions.

"Lie down, I guess," Abbie said.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked. "What if it's a trap?"

"I'll go first," Abbie said. "Don't worry."

She climbed into the central bed and laid down. It was comfier than she'd expected. She looked at the two buttons built into the bed. Holding her breath, she pressed one. The bed whirred to life and rolled forward on the tracks. The other button moved her backwards.

"Guess you two need to lie down before we can start this thing," she said.

Leah took the bed to her left, and Emily the one to the right. As soon as Emily laid down, the beds rose into the air.

Abbie tried the controls, and she found she could still move backwards and forwards. The other two experimented with their buttons as well, getting a feel for how fast the beds could move.

A green light appeared above Abbie. Matching ones winked on above the other two. Instinctively, Abbie rolled herself backwards. Emily had the same idea, but Leah realised what was happening too late. Three pies dropped from the sky, lined up with the lights. Abbie and Emily's pies fell past their feet, but Leah's splattered against her legs. She yelped, and Abbie imagined the sticky cream spraying over Leah's bare legs and under her skirt.

More lights blinked on. The three moved, trying their best to avoid the missiles. Abbie dodged two, but the third one landed on her feet. She gasped as cream and custard splashed over her shoes and up her leggings. The pie crust shattered, and the pieces stuck in the mess. She instinctively sat up to wipe off the gunge, but as soon as she did so, all three beds stopped rising.

The other two looked around in confusion, then shifted their focus to Abbie.

"Looks like we have to stay lying down for this thing to move," Leah said. "Makes sense. We could just curl up in a ball and make ourselves harder to hit otherwise."

"You're probably right," Abbie said, lying back down and sighing. As soon as she did, the bed started rising again.

Abbie tried to concentrate on dodging pies, but the custard that had soaked through her leggings was distracting her. It felt gross but heavenly at the same time. It was so smooth against her leg. Warm and sticky, but somehow comforting.

She barely dodged a pie. To her left, Leah yelped as hers connected right in her face. More and more lights blinked on. It was getting hard to keep track of them all. Emily screamed from her other side, a pie smacking her in the chest. Abbie moved too slowly to dodge the next one, and it landed on her lower legs. This one was filled with blueberry syrup, and it squirted up her leggings and under her skirt. Emily took one to the face and Leah to the feet. The filling was so sticky. Why did it feel so good?

Abbie kept moving. Pies whizzed past her bed. Emily, clearly still blinded from her previous hit, didn't see the pies falling towards her. One hit her upper thighs and the other in the face once again. She screamed, frantically moving her bed back and forth. It was no use--pies splattered her in the stomach, chest and lower legs. Abbie couldn't really see Emily from her current angle, but she guessed that Emily must be covered by now. Jealousy flickered through her, but she quashed it before she could talk herself into purposefully moving under the pies.

Projectiles continued to hit Emily as the girls rose. The wet splats filled Abbie's ears as she wove between the desserts. When they were almost at the top of the elevator shaft, Emily appeared to return to her senses and started dodging the pies.

Just before they reached the top, pies flew towards all three of them without warning. Abbie closed her eyes, trying to dodge it. No luck. The pie hit square in her face. What felt like a mountain of cream covered her head, smooth, chocolaty filling underneath. She felt drops of cream splattering the top of her t-shirt and the shoulders of her black cardigan. Cream dropped off her head and landed on the bed to either side.

The bed came to a stop, and Abbie reached up to clear her face. She ran her hands through the sticky mound, feeling the mess ooze between her fingers. She wiped off the cream and shovelled it over the edge of her bed and down the elevator shaft. Her blond hair was a bit harder to clean; the front was stuck together in clumps where the chocolate had reached it. After some trying, she cleaned off the worst of it.

She looked down at her clothes. Her shoes were covered in cream, and her black leggings were soaked with custard and blueberry syrup. She lifted her feet over the edge of the bed and shook most of the cream off before deciding it wasn't worth trying to clean the leggings. They felt nice, anyway. She brushed blobs of cream off her red top before getting to her feet and climbing out of the bed.

Leah was already up and waiting. She appeared to have taken a similar number of pies to Abbie. Her white skirt now had a large brown stain from a chocolate pie, and her hair was matted with cream. Not that she seemed to mind. Both of them rushed over to Emily's bed.

The poor girl was covered. Her hoodie was a saturated mess of cream, custard and chocolate, and her jeans were almost as bad. Abbie and Leah grabbed her hands and helped pull her out of the bed. A wave of mess slopped down Emily's front as she stood up.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," Abbie said, squeezing Emily's hand. "I was supposed to protect you this time."

"It's not your fault," Emily said. She pulled her dripping hoodie over her head, revealing the much cleaner black and white striped t-shirt underneath. "You couldn't do anything about it."

"Still" Abbie helped wipe off Emily's jeans, though the sticky denim still clung to her legs.

Leah was already hurrying to the next door.

"How are you so cool with all this?" Emily asked.

Leah laughed and turned back. "Because it's fun!"

"You're nowhere near as messy as me."

"There's enough here."

Emily snorted and walked after her. Abbie followed, resisting the urge to rub the mess further into her leggings.

***

A ten-metre climbing wall dominated the next room. The chamber was cylindrical with hand and footholds speckling its surface. Abbie frowned. It didn't look tough, but climbing wasn't her strong suit. Emily perked up. She'd been climbing since Abbie met her seven years ago, and she was excellent. Whatever happened in this room, hopefully, she would stay clean. Leah eyed the wall anxiously. Abbie had never seen her climb, but her body language didn't bode well for her abilities.

"Okay," Abbie said, "Emily can go first, and we'll follow."

Leah nodded, and Emily walked over to the base of the wall. When she touched the first handhold, the door to the room slid closed, and a hole opened in the ceiling above. A stream of custard poured into the centre of the room. A yellow wave rippled outwards, coating the floor.

Emily yelped and rushed up the wall, and Abbie followed with Leah close behind. The climb was surprisingly straight forward. There were always handholds exactly where Abbie needed them, and the three made good progress.

However, when Emily reached the halfway point, the wall whirred to life, and sections of the chamber began to rotate. She clung on and continued scaling the wall, but at a much slower pace. Abbie reached the transition point and waited for the handholds to line up. Her heart rate increased, her muscles feeling the strain for the first time. The wall lined up, and she pushed upwards. She grabbed handholds with slick fingers, and the spinning wall pulled her sideways, her feet still resting on the section below. She screamed and leapt. She scrabbled for footholds and found them just before she fell.

The custard was almost a third of the way up the chamber, and Leah had fallen behind. Still climbing, Abbie watched as she approached the spinning section of the wall. Leah grabbed a moving handhold, but unprepared for the sideways motion, her body swayed dangerously. She clawed for another one, but her hand only glided across the smooth surface of the wall. Her body lurched sideways, and her scream echoed through the chamber as she plummeted into the custard.

Abbie gasped. She wanted to help her friend, but the rational part of her mind told her to keep going. Leah would probably be enjoying it, anyway.

Emily had reached the top, and she sat on the edge, her face aghast at what'd happened to Leah.

Abbie reached the top section of the wall, this one spinning the other direction. How had Emily done this? She clung there, trying to think of an idea.

"Jump!" Emily called.

"What?"

"When you see some holds to your left, jump and land on them as they move in front."

"Are you kidding?" Abbie had already made one jump, and she'd barely stayed on the wall.

"No, hurry!"

The wall spun. Abbie gritted her teeth and leapt. The handholds moved in front of her, and she grabbed them. Hanging from the wall, her feet swung in the air as the motion tried to throw her off. Tucking in her legs, she pushed against some footholds. A sigh of relief escaped her as she steadied.

Something wet swirled around her feet, and she remembered the custard filling the chamber. Even as she resumed her ascent, the custard rose over her ankles and poured into her shoes. Her feet dragged, and she pulled with all her strength. She was only a couple of feet from the top. Emily leaned over to help, but the custard slowed her too much. It rose past her knees, its soft embrace clutching her legs and soaking through her leggings in sticky streams. She pushed, grabbing another handhold. The custard lapped against the bottom of her skirt, and the material fanned out, resting on the surface. She jumped with the last of her strength, and Emily grabbed her. Emily hauled her up, and she grabbed the top of the wall. One final heave brought her onto dry land. Her legs pulled free of the custard with a slurp.

"Thanks," she said, panting.

A shape broke the surface of the custard, and Abbie remembered Leah. The climb had been too difficult to think about what happened to her. Leah swam over to the side and climbed out the gunge. A yellow wave poured off her skirt as she got out, and the stuff streamed out of her hair.

"Oh my god!" Emily said, rushing to her.

"Careful," Leah said, flicking her hair and sending yellow droplets flying. "I didn't think you wanted to get messy."

"I don't. How can you just--"

"That was amazing!" Leah exclaimed.

Abbie stared at her. Leah's clothes were a sticky, dripping mess, her features were smothered in custard, and her hair was drenched. But the same excitement from earlier filled Abbie.

"What does it feel like?" she asked.
"It's so weird," Leah said, flicking custard off her jacket. "my clothes are really heavy, and my underwear's full of it. It's so nice in my shoes--really smooth."

"It's actually nice?"

"Yeah," Leah pointed at the yellow pool. "Why don't you jump in?"

Abbie looked at the rippling surface. The spinning wall churned the stuff into a whirlpool, its sweet scent permeating the air. She thought about diving in and feeling the liquid embrace her, its silky touch covering every inch of her body. She shook her head--she wasn't ready for that yet. Enough of the stuff already covered her legs. Her leggings were saturated, and the mess had filled her shoes. She wiggled her toes, feeling the custard slosh around. It did feel good.

She looked back at the others. Leah had pulled off her sodden jacket, and her once black t-shirt was now a bright yellow. Leah squelched over, followed by Emily.

"Any guesses on what's coming next?" she asked.

Abbie shook her head. "No idea, but whatever it is, I bet another one of us is getting soaked."

***

"Wow!" Leah gazed at the next obstacle from the balcony the three girls stood on. It was a massive racetrack. Abbie followed it with her eyes as it looped underneath them, becoming more and more complex as it went on. It ended with a ramp downwards--without railings--suspended over a pool of something golden brown. Caramel, probably.

Three carts sat by the start of the track. Leah bounded over to one and clambered inside, a soft squelch accompanying her from the custard soaking her butt. She started it up, and a low whir filled the air as its engine started.

"Come on!" she called, reversing her cart and rolling towards the track. Abbie followed her example, and Emily hesitantly came after.

"Em, go behind me," Abbie said, rolling into place behind Leah.

"Here we go!" Leah said, pushing her cart forwards. It accelerated, the slight slope of the course allowing gravity to pull her along. She rounded the first corner but almost skidded out too wide.

"The brakes don't work on these things!" she shouted.

"What?" Abbie called.

Leah shouted something else, but she was now out of earshot.

Sighing, Abbie feathered the accelerator and rolled onto the ramp. Even after watching Leah, the sudden acceleration surprised her. She tried to slow down, but nothing happened when she engaged the brakes as Leah had said. The ramp was smooth, offering little resistance as she drove. Abbie judged her speed better than Leah and passed the first corner much more smoothly, but something popped out the ceiling and fired blue goop at her. Startled, she swerved, and the stuff sprayed over her right arm. Abbie gasped and jerked the steering wheel. Narrowly avoiding a wall, she corrected her course and flew down a straightaway.

Whatever the stuff was, it was incredibly sticky. Abbie quickly licked her finger and tasted blueberries. The same syrup from the pies earlier?

Abbie spotted Leah around the next corner. Apparently, Leah had found a way to slow down. Abbie watched as she triggered a dispenser. Chocolate syrup poured over her as she rounded another bend.

As Abbie approached the spot where Leah got squirted, she noticed a marking on the floor. She steered clear, and no chocolate sprayed her. Handy to know, although the markings were hard to spot, especially as she got faster.

A few turns later, Abbie saw Emily approaching in her rear-view mirror. Her hair and t-shirt were covered in strawberry syrup, and she was going way too fast. Abbie pulled over, and Emily passed her, triggering a dispenser that Abbie hadn't even noticed. Emily screamed as blackberry sauce showered her. Abbie felt sorry for her friend; she didn't seem to be enjoying the day anywhere near as much as she and Leah were.

Abbie wove between dispensers. Even without using the accelerator, she was moving at an incredible speed. Every turn almost slammed her into the padded wall. Just before the final ramp, she missed a dispenser, and chocolate sprayed all over her. She gasped, blinking the stuff out of her eyes as it splattered down her t-shirt and splashed into her lap. It was so sticky--why did it feel so nice?

Leah was already over halfway down the final ramp. Already soaked in custard, she appeared to not care about dodging, and she was splattered with a dozen different sauces. Emily, behind her, was far shakier. She tried to avoid the sauce showers, but she was moving too fast, and the ramp was too steep. Abbie gasped as Emily spun out too wide and slid off the ramp. She screamed as she plummeted into the lake of caramel sauce below. With a sticky splash, she was gone.

The distraction almost made Abbie drive off the ramp. She pulled hard right and missed the edge by centimetres, arcing around a jet as she did so. She heard drops of sauce splatter the right side of her car as she passed it.

The ramp got steeper. It was impossible to dodge anything on reaction now. Weaving back and forth, Abbie prayed for a miracle. Sauce sprayed around her. Toffee splashed her left arm. Her cart slid on the sauce already covering the slope from Leah's passage. By some miracle, she didn't slip off.

As soon as she left the ramp, her cart's brakes kicked in, and they screeched as she was dragged to a halt. She hadn't noticed how fast her heart was beating. She looked down at herself and surveyed the mess. Splodges of chocolate stained her red top, and the brown goo was still dripping off her skirt into the cart. Her cardigan had taken the worst of it--sauce thoroughly coated the sleeves. All things considered, she was still reasonably clean--especially compared to the other two.

Abbie climbed out her cart and joined Leah, who was already standing by the caramel lake waiting for Emily. Leah was coated in a rainbow of sauces: chocolate, blueberry, strawberry--too many to count.

"Nice driving," Abbie said, smiling.

"Thanks, I hit every jet I tried to." Leah wiped up a trickle of toffee sauce running down her forehead and sucked her fingers clean. "They taste really good."

"You really enjoy this, don't you?"

In answer, Leah sat down and dipped her legs into the caramel. "Yes, I don't know why, but I do. And so do you, though you're doing your best to hide it for some reason."

Abbie flushed and turned away, looking for Emily in the lake. She spotted her about ten metres away, struggling to drag herself through the viscous liquid.

"I don't know why you're so embarrassed," Leah continued, swirling her legs in the sauce. "You're probably never gonna get another opportunity like this, so make the most of it."

"I . . ." Abbie struggled to make sense of the feelings jumbled inside her. The feeling that all this mess should be revolting battled with a sense of longing she'd never known before. She took a step towards the lake, sweat beading on her palms.

"Come on." Leah smiled and gestured for Abbie to sit beside her. Wiping her sweaty hands on a clean part of her skirt, Abbie complied. She went to dip her legs in the sauce like Leah but froze.

"You know you want to," Leah said. "Take off your shoes if you want."

"I . . . I can't," Abbie said.

"Do I have to push you?" Leah smiled and leaned towards her.

"Stop it!" Abbie stood up and moved out of her reach.

"Fine." Leah sighed. "But you're getting messy on the next obstacle. I don't care what happens. No way we're finishing this without you accepting that you like this."

Leah reached out to help Emily as she swam into reach. Abbie helped her. A few seconds later, a sticky, sodden Emily squelched from the lake. She was a complete mess: hair stuck in a gluey curtain, jeans and t-shirt plastered to her body. She'd lost her shoes somewhere in the lake, revealing saturated socks, which she promptly peeled off.

"That's fucking disgusting!" Emily said.

"It's okay," Leah said, moving to put an arm around her friend. Emily didn't complain about the custard-covered arm, presumably resigned to her messy state and too tired to protest. The two sat down, and Abbie joined them. She didn't hug Emily--she was still too clean for that--but she joined Leah in offering comforting words.

After a few minutes, Abbie suggested that they move on. Emily didn't object, and the three girls rose and headed for the next doorway.

"Right," Leah said, "Abbie's way too clean. Time to sort that out."

***

The three girls walked into what was clearly the final chamber. Three obstacles branched out from a central room, each one ending with a lever. Abbie turned and saw another door built into the same wall they'd come through with three bolts securing it.

"So," Leah said. "Which one are we doing first?"

Abbie examined the obstacles. To the left, a pool of chocolate stretched for about fifteen metres with the lever on the opposite shore. No gantries, no ropes, nothing visible to help them across. Straight ahead, platforms moved over a pit Abbie couldn't see the bottom of. Jets sprayed something thick, probably cake batter, between them, and dispensers in the ceiling fired torrents of cream. To the right, a network of rope ladders dangled over a lake of pink frosting. They led up a vertical shaft to a platform that presumably contained the lever. Several ladders would quiver every ten seconds or so, and a spray of something foamy would pour over them. Marshmallow fluff, maybe?

"Well, which one are you thinking?" Leah asked.

"Um . . . I'm not sure," Abbie said.

"Fine then," Leah said. "We'll start on the left. I know you want a swim. Help me, Em."

"No, wait!" Abbie cried as Leah moved to pick her up. After a hesitation, Emily followed Leah's example. The two lifted Abbie and carried her towards the lake of chocolate. She felt the mess covering them begin to seep into her clothes.

"Why can't you do it, Leah?" Abbie protested. "You're already soaked. And you enjoy it."

"So do you," Leah said. "That's what we're helping you realise."

They neared the edge of the lake. Abbie tried to summon the urge to fight and break free, but the excitement building inside her at the thought of being covered in sweet, silky chocolate was too overwhelming. "Fine," she said. "Do it then." She took a deep breath, and the girls flung her into the chocolate.

The liquid enveloped her. It swirled under her skirt and rippled her cardigan, quickly soaking through the material. Her leggings and t-shirt were saturated in seconds, then the mess poured into her underwear, the sensation sending shivers of excitement rushing through her body. She opened her mouth to moan, and the sweet chocolate filled it with heavenly flavours. A gluey curtain of hair floated around her, tickling her face and shoulders. She almost forgot that she needed to breathe.

She kicked hard towards the bottom of the lake, and she shot upwards. Her head broke the surface, and she breathed in air that now seemed dry and tasteless compared to the ocean below. She brushed the sticky hair out of her eyes and sighed in contentment as chocolate trickled down her face.

"You okay?" a muffled voice called. Abbie tipped her head, chocolate running out her ears.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" Leah's voice. Yes, that's right. She was here with friends.

Abbie turned towards the shore where Leah and Emily were watching her.

"Yes," she said, her mind flooded with euphoria. "Thank you."

Leah smiled. "Told you."

Abbie turned away and swam towards the other shore. The chocolate was thicker than water--every stroke was like hauling herself up a bank. The weight of her saturated clothes also didn't help; she thought about taking them off, but something about the feel of the sticky material clinging to her skin convinced her otherwise.

? Eventually, she reached the other side and clambered out. Streams of chocolate poured off her skirt and down her legs. Her sodden top clung to her. Her shoes were full of the stuff; every step was accompanied by a loud squelch. She wasn't sure whether she liked that or not. The chocolate sloshing around in her underwear, however, was a different story. She felt herself getting more and more aroused as she walked towards the lever.

Aroused? Why?

She shook her head. It didn't matter; Leah had finally forced her into experiencing the mess, and now she couldn't have been more grateful. It's okay, she thought. Whatever this is, Leah gets it too. I'm not weird. At least, no more than anyone else.

Upon pulling the lever, a loud click echoed through the room, presumably a bolt sliding free. Abbie turned back to the chocolate and dove in without hesitation.

A couple of minutes later, she reached the others. Leah extended a hand to help her out, but just before Abbie took it, her arm bumped something sticking out of the wall. Curious, she reached out and found what appeared to be another lever. She pulled it, and something rumbled in the wall next to her. Abbie gasped as a gantry folded out of the wall, forming a dry passage over the chocolate.

"What?" Leah gasped.

Abbie stared at it in awe. "We should've known there would be something. They said you could complete this course without getting messy."

Emily looked just as shocked. "Oh my God," she said, eyes wide. "You got so messy for nothing."

"Nothing?" Leah asked, gripping Abbie's forearm. "Would you go back in time and use the gantry if you could?"

Abbie grinned. "Of course not."

***

"I assume I'm taking the next one?" Leah asked as the girls walked to the obstacle with the moving platforms. Abbie watched as cake batter and cream sprayed between them in beautiful patterns.

"Um . . . actually . . ." she said. "Could I do this one too?"

Leah looked at her, disappointment clear on her face. "Okay, then. I did get you into this. But I get to do the next one."

"Sure," Abbie said. What was she doing? Volunteering for this now?

She looked down at her shoes. They were still full of chocolate--she hadn't bothered to empty them out yet, but they were now getting rather annoying. She bent down, a fresh wave of chocolate dribbling down her front as she did so, and pulled them off.

"Give them here," Leah said.

Intrigued, Abbie complied. Leah swirled the shoes, looking at the lakes of chocolate inside them. Then smiling, she emptied the shoes over her head.

"Ew!" Emily cried. "Abbie's feet have been in those.

"Shut up," Abbie glared at Emily. "They're not that bad."

"If you say so," Emily said.

Leah's hair was now back to its natural dark brown, thanks to the chocolate. She flicked it at Abbie, speckling her face with droplets. Abbie flapped the side of her cardigan at Leah, chocolate painting over the yellow custard.

"Stop it, you two," Emily said. "Get on with the obstacle. I really need a shower."

"Fine," Abbie said, heading towards the first platform.

The obstacle was so much easier when you didn't care about dodging anything. Abbie leapt from platform to platform, miraculously avoiding the gunge until she was about halfway across. But as she made the next jump, a torrent of cake batter sprayed her in the face. She stood her ground and opened her mouth wide. The batter tasted superb. The jet covered her face before slowly sweeping downwards, batter splashing over her shoulders, chest, and stomach before it shut off. The batter was much thicker than the chocolate; her top and cardigan were much heavier now, and the stuff ruined her hair even more. It was wonderful.

She continued making jumps. Another jet sprayed her in the back as she approached the end, batter spraying her cardigan before moving down and coating her butt. She smiled as she reached the other side. After pulling the lever, she allowed herself a minute to squidge the cake batter into her clothes and swirl it around with the chocolate. It was such a good feeling.

On the way back, she took one more stream of cake batter, this one spraying her stomach, crotch and legs. It felt the best yet. She got the feeling that it wasn't just chocolate soaking her underwear anymore.

Before leaving the obstacle, she looked at the cream dispensers. There were only a couple, which was why she'd missed them earlier. They were fixed overhead, and every so often, they would spray a thick shower down onto a platform underneath them. What the hell, she thought. I'm not going to get another chance to do this. She hopped onto the next platform and stood still as she was lowered under a jet.

The cold shocked her; everything she'd felt so far--the sauces, the chocolate, the cake batter, even the pies--had been beautifully warm. But the cold of the cream almost made her jump off the platform. Shivering, she held her ground and let herself be absorbed by the white shower. It tasted as good as ever, and the coldness made the cream way thicker. The gunk piling up against her stomach, trapped under her t-shirt, was really cold, though. As if on cue, the cream got warmer and warmer until it was the temperature she was used to. A few seconds later, it shut off, leaving her a sticky white blob.

Abbie wiped her arm across her face, trying to clear her eyes. When nothing happened, she violently shook her head until a mound of cream dropped off and poured down her front. Finally, able to see again, Abbie made the last jump on to dry land, though the excess weight of the cream didn't make for a graceful landing. She collapsed in a heap with a splat.

"Wow!" Leah said. Abbie could only just make out her words--cream still covered her ears and most of her head.

"Can't hear you!" she called. "Ears are clogged!"

Leah walked over and crouched next to her before wiping away the mounds of cream. "I can't believe you actually did that."

"Neither can I," Abbie replied. She felt dazed--what had she just done? Her clothes felt ten times heavier. Her hair was a complete disaster. Her underwear was soaked. But it felt amazing.

"How am I supposed to follow up after that?"

"Don't know," Abbie said, "but knowing you, you'll find a way."

Leah swiped a handful of cream from Abbie's shoulder and started eating it. "That's so good," she said. "No wonder you had to do that. Should I go under one of those?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Come on, Leah. You can get messy on the next one. I really want to get out of here."

"Boring!" Leah tossed a handful of cream at her. Emily squealed and dodged out the way.

"Leave her alone," Abbie said. "Do the next obstacle. If you're still too clean, you can go in the cream once Emily can get cleaned up."

"Fine." Leah sighed. "What do I get? Marshmallow fluff?"

"That's what it looks like," Abbie said. "Frosting, too."

"Good enough," Leah said, walking towards the final obstacle.

***

Abbie sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her legs in the frosting. Emily sat next to her, though she kept her feet well away from the pink lake. Sighing in contentment, Abbie swirled her legs around in the gunge as Leah started climbing the first rope ladder. She could still feel it pressing between her toes, despite the thick layers of dessert saturating her leggings.

The first ladder quivered. Leah hopped onto an adjacent one, and seconds later, a thick torrent of marshmallow fluff poured over the first ladder. It sprayed into the frosting, drops splattering over Abbie's front. Emily recoiled and moved away from the pool. The jet eventually shut off, leaving the ladder with a frothy coating.

Leah continued upwards, whistling as she climbed. When the next set of ladders shook, she didn't bother to move. She just wrapped her arms tightly around the ladder and clung to it. The wave rolled over her, screams of delight immediately quelled by the rush of foam. Abbie was tempted to jump in the pool and taste some of the stuff herself, but she decided to stay where she was. When the torrent passed, Abbie saw a lump of foam the size of Leah attached to the ladder. Wow, she thought. Did I look like that? Do I still look like that? She glanced down at her cream-soaked clothes. Yes, I definitely do.

"Abbie!" Leah called. "It's fun up here. Come on!"

"Sorry," Abbie called back, her arms still faintly aching from the climb earlier. "Too tired."

"Fine!" Abbie watched as Leah seemed to be doing something with the foam. Then a massive pile of it fell down towards her. She yelped and closed her eyes as a fourth layer of mess enveloped her. Am I ever going to clean up after today?

Leah reached the top a couple of minutes later, and the final bolt clicked free from the door. Instead of taking the ladders back down, Leah leapt off the platform at the top. Her sticky form plummeted through the air before splashing into the frosting right in front of Abbie, the wave of frosting soaking her again. Drops of frosting speckled Emily too, and she grimaced, climbing to her feet and heading for the doorway.

"Careful," Abbie called after her. "There might be traps out there."

"No there aren't." Emily flicked frosting out of her hair. "I can see the showers right through there."

"If you're sure," Abbie said, reaching out a hand to help Leah as her pink head surfaced.

Leah looked disappointed. "Don't you want a swim."

Abbie sighed. "Sure, why not." She dropped into the viscous lake with a splash.

Half an hour later, Abbie and Leah squelched towards the showers, pounds of mess weighing them down. Abbie's skirt clung to her legs, trying its best to make her trip over and roll in a messy puddle. She resisted the urge. Her cardigan had fallen off back by the pool, the weight of the gunge having pulled it off her shoulders. It was a miracle it had stayed on for so long. Not that anyone would notice, though. The layers of chocolate, cream, and frosting had turned her shirt so far from red that it was completely indistinguishable from the cardigan.

"Wow . . ." Leah said. "I guess it's over."

"I know . . ." Abbie looked at the chocolate lake one last time--the thing that had finally convinced her who she was and what she liked. "I'm gonna miss this so much."

"We can get messy at home," Leah said. "Nothing like this, but we can at least have some fun."

"I guess."

They walked into the shower room, where Emily was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh." Leah scanned the room. "Where did she go?"

Abbie spotted another door and piqued through. Emily was sitting on a couch on the other side, somehow already spotless, and wearing a clean t-shirt and leggings.

"How did you get clean so fast?" Abbie asked, conscious of the pink footprints she left in the doorway.

"I don't understand, either," Emily said. "That soap in there is like magic."

"Really? What about your clothes?"

"They're fine, too, but they're too wet to put on. Took longer to scrub those, though."

"So, you sure you don't want more time out there now you know you can clean up easily?"

She actually seemed to consider for a second. "No, I just don't like it. Whatever you two have, well . . . I'm glad you enjoyed it, but it's just not for me."

"It's okay, we understand."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Now go shower before you drip frosting all over the floor in here."

Abbie turned back to the showers where Leah was waiting in a stall, smiling at her.

"Ever showered with someone else?" she asked.

"Um . . . no."

"Well then," she said, jade green eyes alight with excitement. "You wanna try it?"

Abbie stepped forwards into the stall, wrapping her arms around her friend. "I'd love to."