Lugging a large cardboard box out of the back of her parents’ Volvo wagon, Allison Delaney stared up at the 20-floor tower ahead of her. The building, which was twice as tall as any structure in her small Midwestern hometown, was about to become her home. She shook her head in disbelief as she hugged the box to her chest and headed for the entrance to John Quincy Adams. All the tower dorms in the southwest part of campus were named after presidents, the guide explained during their orientation tour several weeks before.

Charles Delaney followed his only daughter, carrying the bulky mini fridge, while his wife, Emma, carried several garments on hangers. Since the elevators were overcrowded, the trio made their way up the dingy stairway to the fifth floor. At last they arrived in front of Allison’s room, room 510. The door was ajar, so Allison poked a sneakered foot through the crack to gain entry to her new home. She was greeted by a spiky haired brunette with electric blue eyes and a smile to match.

“Kaija Bloom,” she greeted, sticking out her hand.

She seemed nice enough, but Allison was wary. After dropping the box on to her desk, Allison returned the smile and extended her hand. “And I’m Allison Delaney. I guess we’re roommates?” she asked tentatively, raising her eyebrows.

“Guess so,” Kaija shrugged.

Just looking at them, the girls seemed like polar opposites. Kaija’s hair was stylishly short, and her outfit consisted of a pair of skin-tight jeans and a silky halter top tied in front to expose her jeweled bellybutton. Allison, on the other hand, wore a pair of baggy sweats with an oversized t-shirt bearing a litter of furry kittens and their mom. And in place of Kaija’s stylish locks was Allison’s long straight light brown hair, pulled back in a tight ponytail. This could get very interesting, Allison thought, wondering if their differences in dress carried over to their personalities.

After Allison’s parents introduced themselves, they went back out to the car for another load of stuff, insisting that Allison stay behind and get to know her new roommate.

“So, how do you want to arrange the room?” Kaija asked, gesturing to the two-room suite. When Allison remained silent, Kaija continued. “I was thinking we could put the beds out here by the windows, and leave the desks back here by the door. Kinda makes it feel like we really have two rooms instead of a disfigured ‘Z’-shaped room,” Kaija grinned.

Allison returned her smile and nodded in agreement as Kaija led her into the windowed part of the room. One bed was to the right parallel to the windows, and the other was sideways, held up on one end by the window sill, and the other by a rail on the wall. The arrangement gave her bed the look of a bunk bed, leaving her room to put two small unfinished chests of drawers underneath for additional clothing.

“I can get some friends to help us put your bed up, too, if you’d like…”

Allison shook her head. She’d have enough adjustments to make as a college freshman without adding a twist to her sleeping arrangements!

Kaija leaned back against the window sill, folded her arms, and cocked her head as she gave Allison an intense look. “You sure don’t talk much,” Kaija giggled. “What am I gonna have to do to bring you out of your shell?”

A loud groan from the other part of the room derailed their conversation. Allison’s parents had returned with two more boxes of stuff. Looking at their room, Allison was beginning to think she had packed way too much…

“One more box to go,” Mr. Delaney announced as he tried to catch his breath. “You two getting to know each other a bit?” he asked, falling into Allison’s desk chair for a moment.

Kaija just giggled. “Well I’m trying to, but your daughter seems to be quite shy. I’ll have to help her with that,” she said, a twinkle in her eye.

“You said your name was Kaija?” This was Allison’s mother. “Very interesting name. How do you spell it?”

“K-A-I-J-A,” she responded. “You wouldn’t believe the bizarre pronunciations I hear. Cage-a is probably the most common. Now when I introduce myself to people, I usually say, ‘Kaija, rhymes with hiya’.” She smiled, and the Delaneys instantly felt their daughter was in good hands. Allison wasn’t so sure. Something in the pit of her stomach made her feel like Kaija was going to be a handful. She wondered what her personality would be like when there were no more parents on the scene to impress.

Kaija and Mrs. Delaney continued talking while Allison’s dad made the final trip to the car. When he placed the last box on the floor of Allison’s closet, he wandered back into the bedroom area. “Can we take you two girls out to dinner? I’ll bet the dining commons isn’t open tonight…”

“A few of us planned to order in some pizza,” Kaija explained, declining politely.

“That sounds like fun,” Mrs. Delaney commented. “You do have enough money to pay for your share, don’t you, Allison?” Her daughter nodded silently, swallowing the lump of nerves that took up residence in her throat. “We’ll be off then, and let you girls get on with your fun.”

“I’ll walk you to the car,” Allison said, following her parents to the door.

Mr. Delaney turned back to face Kaija. “You take good care of our little girl, won’t you?” His eyes narrowed with the smile as he clapped Kaija on the back. Lovely…her parents were treating her like a two-year old, Allison thought, sulking.

“Sure thing,” Kaija promised with a wave as the trio left the room. 

Pulling her journal and a pen out of her backpack, Allison curled up on her unmade bed. When she returned to her room, Kaija was nowhere to be seen, so she decided to take the opportunity to write. Allison didn’t simply like to write, she needed to write. It was as basic to her needs as taking a bath, using the facilities, or eating breakfast. She didn’t know for certain, but somehow this Midwestern-born, Catholic-schooled farm girl suspected she was going to have a whole lot to write about during her first semester of college.

As if on cue, Kaija returned, wearing nothing but the purple bath sheet that was wrapped around her body. “Hey, roomie!” she greeted, opening the door of her closet to reveal a mirror that was attached inside. Allison smiled, looking up only briefly, as Kaija fingered her unruly hair. “Damn,” Kaija mumbled, it’s still too wet!”

In a single fluid motion, Kaija pulled the towel off her dewy body and began patting her hair dry. There she stood in all her naked glory in front of a roommate she’d known for less than an hour! And to think simply taking showers after her high school PE class mortified Allison…

Allison busied herself with her notebook as Kaija fluttered about the room, digging for underwear, her favorite outfit, a matching pair of earrings, and shoes. In between paragraphs, Allison would sneak a peek at her roommate, hoping she had decided to get dressed somewhere along the line. No such luck. Kaija appeared to be perfectly comfortable prancing around in her birthday suit.

“You ready for pizza, roomie?” Kaija’s question pierced the silence.

Allison looked up in the direction of Kaija’s voice. Her roommate was perched on her raised bed, her legs slightly spread. Seeing that Kaija was still naked, Allison’s mouth fell open at the sight. The raspberry colored nipples puckered on Kaija’s small perky breasts, and her parted legs gave Allison a glimpse of what she only suspected existed ‘down there’.

Rather than responding to the question at hand, Allison asked one of her own. Swallowing to restore moisture to her parched mouth, Allison croaked, “Aren’t you going to get dressed?” 

Kaija glanced down at her bare chest and shrugged. “I’m sorry, did I embarrass you? I didn’t mean to…”

Closing her notebook, Allison drew in a deep breath. “You didn’t exactly embarrass me,” she responded honestly. Her cheeks blushed. “Truth be told, I actually admire your confidence.” It was true, every last word of it. The girls back at Catholic school who appeared most confident were also stuck up, like they were too good to be around everyone else. Kaija was just plain comfortable with her body, and Allison truly admired that.

Kaija smiled at that. “Really? No one’s ever said that to me before.”

“Probably because I’m your first straight-laced, Catholic-schooled roommate,” Allison grinned, and both girls burst out laughing. Suddenly, Allison got the feeling that things just might be okay after all. 

Kaija hopped off her bed, her breasts bouncing upon landing. “I’m gonna throw some clothes on,” she said, hitching her chin toward her closet, “then we can order some pizza and get to know each other a bit.”

As Kaija dressed and phoned in the pizza order, Allison made her bed. She was already feeling tired, and somehow she figured their chat would run into the wee hours of the morning.

Stuffing a ten dollar bill into Allison’s hand, Kaija slid into her flip-flops. “You run to the lobby to get the pizza, and I’ll get the drinks. What do you want?”

“Diet Coke, please,” Allison replied, retrieving her own money from her backpack.

“Meet cha back here in a few,” Kaija waved.

The girls sat cross-legged on Allison’s bed, the pizza box situated between them. “So what’s your major?” Kaija asked, wrapping a stray strand of mozzarella cheese around her finger.

“English,” Allison responded. “I want to be a writer in the worst way.”

Kaija nodded knowingly. “So that’s why you’re always doodling in your notebook…”

“And you? What’s your major?”

“Music. I want to be a star,” Kaija elaborated, shoving the tip of mushroom and olive pizza into her mouth. Somehow, that grandiose dream didn’t catch Allison by surprise. Kaija seemed to love being the center of attention, and Allison still marveled at her self-confidence. “And I’m willing to do anything it takes to make it,” she added.

“I guess we won’t be in any of the same classes then,” Allison speculated. She plucked a slice of pepperoni from her half of the pizza and popped it into her mouth.

 Kaija licked her pizza sauce-covered fingers. “Let’s see…” Kaija began, looking upward. “I have band, string techniques, freshman comp, music theory, and physics of music.” She shook her head. “So no, we probably aren’t in any of the same classes.”

“I’ve got calculus, American lit, music appreciation, psych 101, and English 369.”

A giggle spilled out of Kaija’s pizza-filled mouth. “English 369?” she repeated.

“Yeah, it’s Colin Salinger’s honors creative writing class,” Allison explained proudly. “He hand-picks the students each term.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Kaija giggled again, taking a sip of her bottled fruit juice. She laughed at her roommate’s total unawareness of Professor Salinger’s reputation. Even though Kaija was a freshman herself, she had already heard about the hunky instructor’s escapades. Allison was in for quite a ride, and the fact was, Kaija was pretty envious of her.

Kaija glanced at her watch. “Shoot, I’ve gotta get movin’,” she said gathering her paper plate and napkins from Allison’s bed. “I’m headed down to frat row for a party. Wanna come?” Kaija already knew the answer, but she wanted to be polite just the same.

“I think I’ll stay here and get settled in,” Allison responded predictably. “Besides, classes start tomorrow, so I don’t want to be out too late. Thanks for asking though.”

“It’s your life,” Kaija shrugged, tossing her trash into the garbage can by her desk. “You don’t know what you’ll be missing,” she teased with a wink.

Allison waved her off. “Ah, there’s plenty of time for that,” she smiled. “’Sides, it takes us uptight Catholic girls a little while to loosen up,” she grinned. Of that Kaija was certain. “I’d say don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Allison started, “but right now that wouldn’t leave very much!” The girls laughed at their differences as Kaija touched up her makeup, selected some earrings, and headed out the door. Yep, they were going to get along just fine…

After folding her sweaters and arranging her toiletries on a shelf in her closet, Allison decided to take a writing break. Her topic of choice this time around was, “If I Were More Like Kaija.” Not that Allison was unhappy with herself; it was more a matter of curiosity really. If she could just get past those Catholic school hang-ups and live a little, it’d be a different matter entirely. But Allison was beginning to think it would be impossible. Take Kaija’s invite to frat row for example. Would it really have hurt anything to join her? No! Why, her old teachers had her all but convinced that merely being in the same room with a guy was enough to get her pregnant and send her on the direct path to hell!

With a sigh, Allison hugged her notebook to her chest as she contemplated what to write next. Her day-dreamy haze was shattered by a muffled shout from the next building. She knelt on her bed and cranked the window open, trying to hear what was going on. As a rush of stale humid air engulfed the room, the shout rang out again. This time, the words were perfectly clear. “JQA sucks!”

Okay, why would somebody be yelling at a building? Just then, a shout came from the floor above her. “Kennedy sucks!” She peeked outside at the Kennedy building and saw a number of shades open, filling the windows with light and silhouettes of residents’ heads.

Almost simultaneously, Allison heard a stampede of kids run down the hall. “Tower Wars!” one of them called out breathlessly as they ran. And then it started. For a good fifteen minutes, shouts of “JQA sucks” and “Kennedy sucks” volleyed back and forth between the buildings, growing louder each time as more kids joined in. Allison shook her head with a grin. This place was getting stranger by the minute…

Predictably, the feisty crowd soon grew bored with a simple “JQA sucks.” The shouts degraded rapidly, culminating in a resounding, “JQA…go fuck your grandma!”

Laughing hysterically, Allison grabbed the phone and dialed home. “Dad, you aren’t going to believe this,” she laughed. “Listen…” She held the receiver up to the window so her dad could hear the chants first hand.

He let out a deep, rich belly laugh. “That’s some school you’re going to, kid,” he said between fits of laughter.

“It’s definitely a trip,” Allison confessed, shaking her head.

“So how are you and your new roommate getting along?” Mr. Delaney asked.

“Oh, we’re doing fine,” Allison said, settling back on her bed cross-legged. “Kaija’s quite different than me, but I think we’ve reached an understanding. At least now she knows she’s living with an uptight Catholic-schooled girl,” she giggled.

“Who knows,” Mr. Delaney added, “she may just teach you a thing or two!”

Allison sensed the mischievous twinkle in his eyes and smiled. “Daaad…” she protested, blushing.

They said their good nights and hung up so Allison could finish getting settled in her room. The tower wars had quieted considerably, so she was able to put away the remainder of her things in peace. The rest of her dorm floor bustled with activity, but Allison was ready to call it a day. She slipped into her cotton nightshirt, pulled her yellow terry cloth robe around her, grabbed her toothpaste and tooth brush, and padded down the hallway to the bathroom.

Allison chose the cleanest of the sinks, taking a few moments to look in the mirror before brushing her teeth. She wasn’t ugly, not by a long stretch. Her facial features were delicate and feminine, but her hair. Oh god, her hair… She shook her head in disgust. The color, a golden light brown, was beautiful, but it was scraped back from her face with a harshness that detracted from her dainty features.

Maybe it was just as well, Allison thought to herself as she played with her long ponytail. After all, the less attractive she was, the less likely she was to find herself in one of those immoral situations the nuns warned her about.

Allison shrugged and unscrewed the cap of her toothpaste. She applied the minty goop to her brush, and began brushing purposefully. The sound of the bristles scrubbing against her tooth enamel echoed throughout the large bathroom. The room was amazingly quiet for its size except for water running in one of the half dozen shower stalls.

As Allison rinsed the toothpaste from her face, she heard a groan from the occupied shower stall. The groan was so primal, that she feared the person behind it was deathly ill. Allison slipped her tooth brush and toothpaste into the pocket of her robe and approached the shower stall tentatively. She had to do something!

She listened quietly as the groaning stopped. When she was satisfied that all was well with the stall’s occupant, she turned toward the door and began to head back to her room. Allison had only taken two steps when the groaning resumed. She tilted her head, trying to decipher the other sounds she heard. One sound could have been wet skin slapping against the shower tiles, but the other one…

“Oh, Goooooodddddddd!!!” the voice behind the stall wailed.

Allison had visions of the movie Psycho in her head, or something equally hideous. She ran to the stall and knocked frantically on the door. “Hey, are you okay in there?” she called, a tone of panic evident in her voice.

There was no response, so Allison peeked under the door. Those had to be the least feminine pair of feet she had ever seen! And the legs…they were hairy. The female groan was punctuated by a deeper male groan, and Allison finally put it all together. There wasn’t one person in the shower, there were two. After a deep sigh and a giggle, a second, more feminine pair of feet joined the first pair on the shower floor.

Allison covered her eyes in embarrassment and mouthed, “Oh. My. God!” as she ran to her room. She slammed the door shut behind her and leaned against it, praying she wouldn’t die of embarrassment.

Go to Chapter 2...