An overgrown Martian, that’s what she looked like Allison decided. No wonder they were laughing at her out in the hallway! She’d be laughing, too, if she weren’t so close to crying.

And of all the people it could have been, it had to be Barclay! At least if it had been someone from their dorm floor, they could have all had a good laugh and went on with life. As it was, Allison was going to dread eating meals across the table from the guy.

The timer buzzed, indicating it was time for the hair color to come out. As if on queue, Kaija entered the room. She bent her head down, covering her eyes with her hands. “Oh God,” she sighed. “Something horrible has happened!” Kaija gasped, adding to the overacted drama.

“What’s that?” Allison asked, playing along with a grin.

“B-b-barclay s-saw a M-m-m-martian! Right here on our f-f-floor of the d-d-d-dorm!” She covered her mouth and opened her eyes wide to underscore her fear.

Allison picked up the top volume on Kaija’s pile of beauty magazines and chucked it at her. She ducked just in time to avoid impact. “Funny. Very funny! Now will you please get this smelly goop off of me before my hair turns white?!?”

“Hmm, now there’s an interesting idea…” Allison gave Kaija a warning look that made her get serious in a hurry. “Oooookay,” Kaija sighed, handing Allison the ragged old towel she had used before. “Let’s hit the shower!”

Holding the towel over her face and head, Allison reminded Kaija of one of those people on trial who don’t want their picture on TV. She laughed at the thought as she steered her roommate into the shower stall.

“What do I do now?” Allison called out from inside the stall.

“Rinse the smelly stuff off, and then I’ll hand you this conditioner packet under the door. You need to rub it in and leave it on for at least two minutes.”

A sigh came from within the stall.

“Don’t worry,” Kaija smiled. “The conditioner smells a lot better than the other stuff!”

When Allison finished showering, the girls headed back to their room. “Now what?” Allison asked, having no idea what was coming next.

“Have a seat right here,” Kaija answered, patting the back of her desk chair. She grabbed a comb and unwrapped the new cutting shears she pulled out of the shopping bag.

Kaija combed the tangles from Allison’s hair gently, sending beads of water flying all over the place. Before long, the front of Kaija’s t-shirt was soaking wet. The wet fabric exaggerated every curve of her upper body, and it was more than a little obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples stood out in response to the cold sprays of water. While Allison certainly noticed, she tried her best to look at anything but her roommate.

“God, this shirt is driving me crazy!” Kaija groaned, squirming to get the cold wet fabric unglued from her body. Finally, throwing the comb on the desk in frustration, she yanked the shirt off, freeing her breasts in a gesture that made her sigh with pleasure.

Allison’s faced warmed. “What are you doing?” she shrieked.

Kaija shrugged, her breasts bouncing as she moved. “I told you. The shirt was driving me insane.”

A very short trip, Allison mused to herself as she turned away. As long as Kaija was trimming the back of her hair, Allison could ignore her. But heaven help her when she moved to the front…

“Next stop, your bangs.” Kaija walked around Allison and stood immediately in front of her. As Kaija combed the bangs out, her breasts practically hit Allison on the nose.

Allison swallowed hard, trying her best to think about something totally unrelated. Going to the doctor. That was it, she’d think about having her annual physical. But physicals, for women at least, also meant breast exams, pelvic exams, and the like. Ugh, why could she not get her mind off of sex, or at least sex-related things? She never used to be that way until she met Kaija. Yep, Kaija was doing a wonderful job of corrupting her.

Kaija trimmed the bangs and combed them out to check her work. As she bent forward to make sure the bangs were cut evenly, her breasts swayed lazily in front of her. “Oh Allison, your shirt’s dripping wet, too!” She reached for the bottom of the shirt and started pulling upward. “We’d better get you out of that before you catch pneumonia!”

“No!” Allison shouted, grabbing the hem and holding the shirt down. Besides not wanting to sit in her dorm room topless, she seriously doubted that pneumonia was a legitimate concern. Not when it was well over 80 degrees out that day!

“Look, I know you’re scared…”

“I am not !” Allison pouted.

“Of course you are,” Kaija cooed, sitting on her desk. “And who could blame you? I mean you were raised Catholic and all. But if this new makeover is really going to make a difference in your life, you’ll have to learn to come out of your shell a bit.”

Allison didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking. Not in the least. Kaija was skillfully cornering her into a no win situation where she was going to have to do something she was uncomfortable with. Kaija wasn’t being mean spirited, mind you, but she knew exactly which buttons to push on Allison to move her in the desired direction. “I am not scared,” Allison repeated. “It’s just that I’m not cold sitting here in the shirt, so why bother removing it?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kaija responded with an edge of sarcasm. “Makes perfect sense to me! She gave Allison’s hair a nod of approval. “Looks good! Tomorrow night we style your hair, make up your face, and get you a hot outfit so we can go out on the town.”

Allison didn’t feel much different yet from her makeover, so she didn’t have high hopes for the following evening. But she was willing to go along with the plan just the same.

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Still prancing around the room topless, Kaija reached for the phone and dialed Barclay’s number. When Barclay’s voice said hello at the other end of the line, Kaija said, “Hey, Barc, are you in the mood for a little partying tomorrow night?” After a brief pause, Kaija added, “I was thinking of taking Allison to a couple of the neater clubs in the area. You know, to get her in training for her 18^th birthday.” A wide smile confirmed Barclay’s agreement to the idea. “But I have to loosen her up a bit first.” Kaija shook her head. “The poor thing’s just so uptight…she’ll never be able to have fun at this rate!”

In time, Kaija’s look of frustration was replaced with the wide eyes of a dawning idea. “Hey, Barc, you gonna be online tonight?” Another pause. “Great, I’ll talk to you later then. Bye!” Kaija hung up the phone and hopped up onto her bed. “Don’t be mad at me, Allison, but can I ask you a question?”

Allison stopped fussing with her new shorter hairstyle and turned to her roommate. “Of course; ask away. I won’t get made at you!”

“Uh, don’t make promises you can’t keep…”

Allison rolled her eyes. “Come on, Kaija, have a little faith!”

Kaija lay down on her bed, her perky breasts pointing up to the ceiling. “Why are you so afraid of the human body?"

Put that way, Allison felt a little stupid. But she knew Kaija was referring to her discomfort with nudity, and that was a different thing entirely. “It’s not the human body that scares me, and you know it.” Allison’s voice got a little tense despite her promises to the contrary. “Look, it’s just not my thing, okay?”

“Is it because you think the body parts not traditionally exposed are gross, or are you not satisfied with the appearance of your body specifically?”

It was a pretty straightforward question, but Allison had to admit that it wasn’t an easy one to answer. She didn’t exactly see herself as ugly, at least not body-wise, but she honestly wasn’t comfortable seeing other people naked either. Take her roommate. Kaija had the perfect body, yet her comfort with nudity made Allison uneasy. Why? Allison shrugged, finally coming up with something to say to a waiting Kaija. “To be totally honest with you, I’m not exactly sure why it bothers me. It just does, that’s all.”

Kaija ran her hand up her flat stomach, and let it linger over one of her breasts. “It’s too bad you feel that way. The human body is so incredibly beautiful. It’s fascinating, too. Watch this…”She pointed to her left breast with its flat nipple. “See how my nipple’s completely flat when I lay here, yet one light touch…” She skimmed her hand over the nipple, instantly bringing it to life. “…and POOF! It springs to attention! Isn’t that neat?”

“Yeah, whatever you say,” Allison muttered. She turned to her desk and began nervously rearranging the books and papers that lay on top of it.

“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it!” Kaija started wiggling out of her pants. “Now watch this…”

Allison cringed as her roommate tossed her pants and panties onto the floor.

Kaija reached down and slid a finger into her silky folds. After a few brief seconds, she pulled the finger out. “See? Just touching your breasts can make you wet. Surely you’ve been wet before, haven’t you Allison?”

As much as Allison wanted to shove her fingers into her ears and chant, “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!” she didn’t. Kaija took her silence as an affirmative answer to her question.

“Thank God! At least you’re not too far gone. Yet.”

“Gee, thanks,” Allison mumbled, still busying herself with the papers on her desk.

Kaija continued with her lesson as if she were teaching the fundamentals of knitting or something equally as mundane. Her hand slid back into her folds. “Now up toward the top, you’ll find a hard little round bud. That’s your clitoris.” Allison’s face reddened at the word. “It’s the most sensitive spot in a woman’s body,” she continued. “When a guy touches you there…WOW! It’s the most intense thing you’ll ever experience. But if you’re afraid to get intimate with a guy, you can do some experimenting on your own.” Kaija rubbed her bud. “Mmmm,” she moaned, arching her back to increase the contact with her finger.

A trickle of nervous perspiration streamed out from Allison’s underarms. How could she be so mortified yet intrigued at the very same time? She wanted to turn away, but instead she watched intently as Kaija pleasured herself. In time, she felt a stirring between her legs. Allison desperately wanted to reach into her own folds, but her Catholic school conscience taunted her mercilessly over the impending sin.

“Ooooh, Allison, it feels so good!” Kaija squirmed on the bed as her breaths grew into pants. As one hand sped up the action between her legs, the second hand went to work on her breasts. It wasn’t long before Kaija cried out in ecstasy, and then collapsed into a sated, lifeless heap on her bed.

The room was silent, except for Kaija’s slowing breaths. The gaping silence begged her to speak, but Allison settled down at her desk instead. She really did need to do some work for Salinger’s class…

At last, Kaija pulled herself together and jumped down from her loft. She flitted about the room picking up her discarded clothes with admirable ease. In fact, Kaija had more grace and confidence in the nude than Allison ever had fully clothed! She admired that. Wished she could be more like her self-assured roommate, but knew it’d never happen.

As Kaija finished tidying up her closet, the laptop on her desk chimed. Smiling, she sped over to her machine, sat down, and began typing like a mad woman. She’d pause, and then resume typing at warp speed. Allison had no idea what she was doing, but soon added “fast typist” to the list of things she admired about her roommate.

Kaija giggled, making Allison look up from her work. She saw Kaija tweak a nipple, and then go back to typing. Ah, must be instant messaging, Allison finally concluded. Kaija did ask Barclay if he was going to be online tonight. But why the nipple tweaking? Allison shrugged and went back to work on her story.

She honestly tried to give Kaija her privacy, yet she couldn’t resist sneaking a peek across the desks at her roommate from time to time. Allison had great difficulty concentrating on her work. Her mind’s eye kept seeing Kaija writhing in pleasure up on her loft; kept feeling the stirring of pleasure in her groin; kept wondering what it would be like to be that free, that self-assured…

Laughter overwhelmed Kaija, causing her to hold her stomach and shake violently. Allison could even see tears flowing out of her eyes she was laughing so hard. “What’s going on over there anyway?” Allison finally asked.

“I’m not sure you want to know,” Kaija returned, still holding her stomach.

Feeling left out, Allison shifted her attention back to her story.

“Hey, Ally,” Kaija called over her desk. “Barclay wants to know why you’re afraid to go topless.”

Allison blushed. “I’m not afraid,” she insisted, her tone lacking conviction.

“Uh, we don’t believe you,” Kaija grinned. She typed something back to Barclay. Kaija knew she was pushing the limit, but she could tell that she hadn’t crossed the line yet. After all, she didn’t want to torment Allison; she just wanted to help her loosen up a little that’s all.

“Oh, you don’t, huh?” Allison stood up, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Kaija shook her head, smiling. But it wasn’t just any smile, Allison noticed. It was one of those sarcastic smiles that said ‘yeah, sure, prove it’.

Finally, in an uncharacteristically impulsive moment, Allison grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. There she stood, her hands extended outward in a wow-look-at-me pose.

Another wave of laughter overcame Kaija as she frantically typed a message to Barclay.

“Come on, I told you I wasn’t scared, so why are you laughing at me now?”

Kaija looked up at Allison, tears streaming from her eyes once more. Allison’s white cotton bra covered more of her body than half of Kaija’s regular tops did! “Your bra,” Kaija managed between laughs. “I didn’t even know you had time to put one on after we colored your hair.”

“So? I’m still standing here topless. Technically at least.”

“I beg to differ,” Kaija said. “Bras don’t count, especially big cotton ones. Now if you were wearing some tiny bright colored silk lacey thing, I might reconsider.”

Allison snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

“Nope. Just look at the two of us. You see a lot more of me than I do of you. Of course I realize that standing there in your bra is indeed a big accomplishment for you, but there’s still a long ways to go.”

As much as she hated to admit it, Allison knew Kaija was right. She looked on as her roommate bantered back and forth with Barclay. Allison tried her hardest to muster more courage. Finally, she moved a hand to the back of her bra and undid the hooks. She stood there for several minutes unhooked, yet still afraid to reveal more of her body.

Sensing her roommate’s stares, Kaija looked up. “What are you doing?” she asked, surprised to see Allison still standing there in her bra.

“This.” Allison slid the bra straps off of her shoulders, exposing two beautifully white breasts with slightly puckered nipples.

Kaija gave her roommate a supportive smile. “You look fabulous,” she smiled appreciatively. “I knew you could do it! Now tell me the truth, it wasn’t that bad now, was it?”

Allison shook her head. “No it’s not,” she conceded, her breasts finally getting used to their newfound freedom.

Kaija typed a message to Barclay. After a few seconds, Kaija said,” Barclay’s proud of you, too. Now if you could just get to the point where you felt comfortable like that…”

Allison rounded the desks and stood by Kaija.

“Ally…” Kaija warned.

But Allison didn’t hear her. “See?” She held her hands up beside her. “I’m already comfortable!”

“Allison…”

“Now you can’t deny that I’m topless!” Allison said with a smug smile, spinning around.

“No, I can’t but…”

Allison saw the words, ‘Tell Allison she has nice boobs,’ pop up in the message window. “How would he know what my boobs look like?” she asked Kaija.

“Uh, that’s what I was trying to tell you,” Kaija said, biting her lower lip.

“You didn’t say anything. Just my name.”

“And you were so busy proving your ‘toplessness’, you never let me finish a sentence!”

Allison had to admit that she was right. “But what does that have to do with Barclay’s comment about my boobs?”

Kaija pointed up to the bookshelf next to her desk. “See that little white thing up there?” Allison nodded. “That’s a web cam.”

“A web cam?” Allison repeated. “Don’t tell me Barclay could see me…”

Kaija nodded.

Panic-stricken, Allison covered her breasts with her hands, ran over to her bed, and pulled the covers over her head.

“Oh God, just shoot me!” she cried, her voice muffled by the covers.

TO BE CONTINUED...