[Markbassplayer]

***Chapter Four***

“You’re kidding,” Valerie said.

“Nope,” I replied. “Go and see for yourself. All the bathrooms are coed. No stall doors. And the showers are even worse.”

“You’re not going to tell me they’re like….group showers?” Valerie shook her head.

I laughed. “No, not that bad. There are three stalls. They’ve got curtains, so you’re not like exposed or anything. But the dividers between the stalls are kinda low. Like low enough that I can see over them without jumping. When you’re showering you’ll be able to see the other people’s faces and stuff.”

Valerie got quiet. I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was tall. For once, I was glad to be shorter than her. At least I’d be less exposed to whoever else was in the other shower stalls.

“So, how’s Daniel?” I asked. We were sitting at a table in the cafeteria, eating dinner.

Valerie thought for a second. “He’s….nice. And I think he’s actually more weirded out by this than me.” She shook her head. “He tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but I can tell he’s freaked out. That makes it a little better. Of course, I’m still totally freaked out too. So your roommate hasn’t shown up yet?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Maybe I’ll luck out and get the room to myself.”

Valerie laughed. “Or maybe your roommate will be some huge smelly jock who leaves his dirty clothes lying everywhere.”

“Shut up!” I punched her in the arm. It felt good to joke around. It was a distraction from the butterflies that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in my stomach.

****************

We got back to the dorm around 6:30. It was more crowded, with lots of people hauling luggage around. Every time we passed someone with a suitcase, I wondered if they were heading for my room, but when we got there my roommate had still not arrived.

Valerie and I compared schedules. We were both in the morning session, but then again everyone was. Then she had other classes for the second and third session, and then we had band together. Once again I realized how lucky I was that she was here—no matter how weird things got, I’d have a friend to hang out with at the end of the day.

There was a knock at the door. A petite, punk-rock looking girl was standing there. She had pink and blue hair and was wearing a ripped Ramones tee shirt.

“Hey you two. I’m Angela. I’m one of the councilors. I just wanted to say welcome to camp, and if you ever need anything I’m downstairs in room 111.”

“Thanks,” Valerie said.

She looked a little more closely at us. “How are you two doing? I know a lot of people are nervous about camp this year.”

“We’re okay,” I said, trying to act like I wasn’t worried.

“All right then. Just remember, come by if you need anything. You got your schedules for tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Hey, my roommate isn’t here yet…”

She glanced down the hall. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they’ll get here soon. Hey, I’ve gotta run. Talk to you guys later!”

“Damn,” whispered Valerie. “She could have at least told you whether it was a guy or a girl.”

****************

We walked around the dorm and met some more people. Some of them seemed relaxed, some seemed nervous, but all were kicking back and enjoying the night before classes started. After a while we split up and I went back to my room to read for a while and wait for my roommate.

After a while I looked up and saw that the clock said 9:00. Still no roommate. I closed my book, and took a deep breath. I’d been putting it off, but after a long car ride, hauling my suitcase around, and walking around to find my classes I couldn’t get away with not showering.

I stepped out into the hallway and knocked on Valerie’s door. I figured we could team up or something, not have to brave it alone. But when the door opened Daniel was standing there.

“Hi,” he said.

“Um, hi,” I replied. “Um, is Valerie there?”

“Nope. I don’t know where she is—I just got back and she wasn’t here.”

“Oh, okay. Well, thanks.” I turned to go.

“Hey, can you do me a favor?” he called after me.

I turned back to look at him. “Sure, I guess. What is it?”

He shifted on his feet. “Um, I know she’s your friend. And she talks to you about stuff. I know we just met, but she’s barely said two words to me. Did I do something to make her mad? Or is she just weirded out by us being roommates?”

I smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s just weirded out. You’re a nice guy, and you haven’t done anything wrong. Just, uh, don’t spy on her when she’s changing or anything.”

He blushed. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about that. Um, okay. See ya.”

I giggled. “See you.” He was even more nervous than she was!

I walked back to my room, and closed the door. It looked like I’d be braving the showers alone. I considered going down there fully dressed and stripping down in the stall, but then I realized I wouldn’t have any place to put my clothes. There were hooks for towels outside the stalls, but I wouldn’t be able to hang everything up there.

I felt a thrill of excitement rush through me as an idea popped into my head. I realized that this was going to be an interesting two weeks….and I might as well start making it interesting now.

I stripped down completely naked, and wrapped a towel around me. I put my dirty clothes in the laundry bag, then grabbed my shower caddy and stood in front of my door. I took a deep breath, then opened it and stepped out into the hall.

Luckily, there weren’t that many people around. I saw two guys going through the door to the stairway, and a tall pale girl walking down the hall toward me. I smiled at her as I passed her, and felt a shiver run up my body. It felt really nerve wracking to be walking down the hall wearing just a towel, but before I knew it I was pushing the bathroom door open.

I couldn’t help it—I glanced at the urinals. No guys. Letting out a relieved sigh, I walked back to the section with the showers. I could hear a shower running, and I saw feet underneath the curtain of the far right stall. I stepped into the far left stall, pulled the curtain closed, then slipped off my towel and leaned out to hang it on the hook.

The hook was too far away to reach. Of course.

I glanced around to ensure no one else was there, then stepped out and hung my towel on the hook, jumping back quickly behind the safety of the curtain. Then I put down my shower caddy and took off my glasses, setting them on the floor near the curtain.

Then I finally glanced to the side at the person in the far stall.

I knew this was originally a guys dorm, and with that in mind the dividers weren’t that bad. But in the current situation they were really a bit revealing. They stopped about even with my mouth, and like I said, I’m a pretty normal sized girl. If I stood right next to the divider I’d almost be able to look over it and see all of the next stall.

Right now there was no one in the next stall. But I could see the head and shoulders of the person in the far stall—and that person was Valerie.

I was about to say something when I noticed something odd. Valerie’s eyes were closed, and she was leaning against the wall by the showerhead…and I could see her shoulder was moving. I gasped when I realized what she was doing. Valerie was masturbating!

Before I could say anything her eyes opened. I glanced down and fumbled with the faucet handles. I didn’t want her to know I’d seen anything.

“Meghan?”

I looked back up. “Valerie! I didn’t know you were over there!” As I turned on the water I could see her blushing bright red.

“Yeah, I figured I’d duck out and get showered before Daniel gets back.” She turned off the water in her stall, still blushing.

“Um, you may have missed your chance. I just stopped by your room, and he’s there.”

Valerie sighed. “Dammit. I should have known.” She looked at me. “What am I going to do?”

I smiled. “Valerie, he’s a nice guy. Just ask him to turn around or leave the room for a minute. He won’t mind. You’ve got to give him a chance.”

She thought for a minute. “Okay. I will. Thanks Meghan.” She smiled, pulled open the curtain to grab her towel (damn her long arms!), and left.

I shut my eyes and let the water wash over me. Poor shy Valerie. Not that she had anything to be shy about! She was tall, thin, and cute. I glanced down at my body as I shampooed my hair. Average height, slightly chubby, and my boobs were smallish. I sighed, and began soaping myself up.

Then I remembered what Valerie was doing when I first got in the shower. My mind had been a whirl all day thinking about what was going to happen, and I was ridiculously worked up. Now might be my best chance to let off some of the tension.

My fingers slid down between my legs and started rubbing. I didn’t even need to take time and warm myself up, I was already throbbing. I rubbed hard and fast, leaning against the wall, feeling the warm water from the shower combine with my slickness. I felt my heart racing as my fingers moved across, up, down, in…I was getting close, so close…

Suddenly, I heard voices. Male voices. Coming toward the showers. I opened my eyes and stood up just in time to see two guys step into the other two stalls. I could see their faces and their shoulders over the dividers, and I instinctively hunched down a bit as I blushed.

“Hey there,” said the one in the next stall.

“Hey….I was just finishing up,” I stuttered in reply.

“Okay,” he said. “Don’t mind me.” The boy in the other stall didn’t say anything, just looked away and turned on the shower.

I quickly washed the soap off my body without looking over at them. I felt embarrassment and humiliation washing through me. What if they had caught me? But why couldn’t they have come in just a minute later? I was still right on the edge of orgasm, and the throbbing between my legs was only intensifying.

I turned off the shower, then pulled the curtain open a bit. I dashed out and grabbed my towel, then hid back in the shower stall. I dried off, wrapped the towel around me, put on my glasses, and glanced at the guys again. The one in the next stall winked, and the one in the far stall gave a shy smile.

I trotted through the bathroom and into the hall. I quickly ran to my room, pulling the door open and stepping inside. I shut the door, leaned against it, closed my eyes, and let out a big sigh. That was wild. And that was just the first night. I couldn’t believe I’d caught Valerie masturbating . We never talked about that kind of stuff. I didn’t think she did it. And then I’d gotten carried away and actually played with myself too….but I didn’t get to finish. COMPLETELY frustrating. But now I was safely in my room. I could take care of things now, and get to sleep.

“Hello there,” a voice said.

I opened my eyes and stared at the girl in front of me. It was the tall, pale girl I’d passed in the hall on the way to the shower.

“I’m Shirin,” she said. “I assume you’re Meghan? I’m your roommate.”