Shelly Part 1 The Good Girl

I looked right at her, watched her ignore me. For as far back as I can recall, the female form had always been fascinating to me, but other than my own body, I had only ever been able to catch glimpses of other girls, mostly in the locker room during gym class. Never had I been given an opportunity like this, to look and not be noticed. I watched Kim stand up, the curves of her dark, smooth skin bathed in the light of the moon. My next breath was ragged with anticipation as she bent and hooked her fingers through the waist of her panties. A warm, ticklish wave swept from the base of my spine upwards. Goose bumps raised on my arms.

Kim stepped out of her panties and picked them up, turning away from me and giving me a view of her back, concealed beneath her straight black hair. I had never noticed before how long it was, reaching almost to her waist. I had a sudden urge to go to her, to touch that smooth, perfect skin, to draw her body against mine and….

I closed my eyes, overcome by confusion and shame. This isn’t me, I thought. I was suddenly fearful, worried that my seemingly innocent act of indiscretion had triggered a change within me. And then I opened my eyes, and Kim had wrapped herself in a towel, presumably heading off to the bathroom to shower. The moment had passed, and I wondered whether it had all been in my mind. I breathed a long sigh, letting my tension go with my breath.

I got out of bed and stretched, then hesitated as I reached for a set of clothes. Kim would come back and see that I had gone and wonder why I wasn’t still asleep in bed.

I sighed and shrugged. Let Kim think whatever she wanted to. I dressed in the dark and pocketed my key out of habit. I picked the Physics book out from the others on my desk by its sheer size and weight alone.

I blinked in the sudden bright yellow light of the hallway. A few of the doors were open, the sounds of half-heard conversation defining tiny, isolated pools of human contact. Off to my left, the reedy voice of a J-pop singer drifted from around the bend, the volume reaching several notches above what was considered appropriate.

I turned right, away from the wincingly shrill vocals, in the hope that a bit of distance would suffice to dampen it. At the end of the hall, I entered a small room with windows overlooking an unimpressive view of the other side of the dorm, and a table, couch and some chairs. It was called a lounge, and many students used the little rooms for studying. There were other, more interesting areas to gather for fun.

I set my book on the table and opened it to a point several chapters in. We had finished gravitation and the next subject was energy. It was odd to think that the material I was studying now was all conceived and written down by a single man over two centuries ago. Isaac Newton represented to me the consummate genius, a man out of time. It was amazing to realize he had also pioneered calculus in his lifetime.

I realized that my mind was wandering, and tried to focus more closely on the task at hand. I could still hear the J-pop girl, but she had switched songs. This one was in English, and against my will, I found myself straining to listen through the thick accent.

I was still on the first paragraph when footsteps approached. I looked up as a tall blonde girl entered, carrying a small book under her arm. “Hey,” she said, giving me a nod.

“Hi,” I said. I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I’m Shelly.”

She had the kind of face and body I had always dreamed of having. She stood close to six feet, with full hips and long, skinny legs. Her tee-shirt hung on her loosely, but still showed the smooth curves of her breasts. She had narrow blue eyes and a slightly upturned mouth that made her appear as though she were enjoying some kind of perpetual joke. I could have just sat and looked at her, appreciating every nuance of her appearance.

She stopped in the middle of seating herself and stepped closer. “Megan,” she said, offering her hand. “I think I’ve seen you around. You’re just down from my friend Debbie.”

“Maybe. Um, I’m in room 244.” That sounded a little stupid. “So, do you live in this hall?” That was worse.

“No, I’m downstairs, on the other side. Sometimes I’ve got to get away, you know, to get any studying done. Although…” She frowned. “How the hell can you do anything with that going on?” She gestured with her thumb to the hallway and the relentless music. I just shrugged. “Okay. Be right back.”

Curious, I stood up and walked to the door to watch. I saw Megan stop in front of an open door and rap her knuckles hard against it. She had a few quick words with someone inside. After a moment, the music dropped down to an almost inaudible level. I returned to my chair, lifting the book up by the edges to bring it closer to my face.

“Holy shit.”

I blinked and looked up. The blonde girl was back. She went on, “You’re a freshman, right?”

“Yeah,” I said with a shrug.

“And you’re taking Physics your first quarter. Are you fucking insane?”

I laughed and grinned sheepishly. “It’s my major.”

She resumed her seat across from me. “No shit. I’ve seen people burn out on that crap before. You’re probably a math whiz, too. Calculus?”

“I’m starting with 3C, Multivariable Calculus,” I said, realizing that I was enjoying the attention. “Not that the AP test was easy.”

“Seriously, though, that is very cool. I love to see that kind of drive in a girl. I’m just trying to skate through with an English degree, reading crappy books from the nineteenth century.” She showed me her book. “Jane Eyre” was the title. “Though Charlotte Bronte must have been pretty ballsy. She published a book under a male pseudonym back when women had to all but ask permission from a man to take a piss.”

We talked for another hour at least. Somewhere between being put off by her profanity and being flattered by her compliments, I decided I liked Megan. We actually had quite a bit in common, her remarks bringing out the solid streak of feminism within me that was more idealistic than the pragmatic, self-contradictory version that my mother had tried to grind into me. Neither one of us got any studying done while we talked. When I found I couldn’t keep my eyelids open any longer, I closed the neglected book, signaling the end of the conversation. Megan stood up just as I did and held out her hand. I held out my own and she grasped it firmly. “It was nice meeting you, Shelly. Say, me and a few friends are going downtown Friday night. You wanna come along?”

A pang of anxiety twisted in my stomach. I never liked meeting people in groups. I would be the center of attention for a minute or two, until everyone realized how boring I was. I took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’d like that,” I heard myself say.

Kim was already back and asleep when I got back to my room. I crawled into bed and fell asleep immediately.

Classes came and went and the days passed. I found myself looking forward to Friday night with an emotion that was not quite excitement and not quite anxiety. On the one hand, I liked Megan and hoped she would introduce me to new people and new situations. On the other, I was almost certain I would say something stupid and ruin everything. As for Kim, I just tried my best to put the whole affair out of my mind.

Megan came by my room to pick me up at around five. The sun hung low over the rooftops, casting a lazy orange glow through my window, when she knocked on my door. “You ready?” she asked as I opened the door.

In fact, I had been ready for over an hour, but I kept casting nervous gazes in the mirror, straightening here, dabbing at a bit of makeup there. I’d worked up the gumption to ask around the rooms next to mine and found someone willing to help me French-braid my hair. I had dressed in a black skirt, short, but not too suggestive, with black stockings and heels. The blouse was dark red, thin, and clung to my lanky frame, emphasizing what few curves I had.

Megan’s face brightened once she got a good look at me. “You know, you really look fantastic.”

I beamed back at her, pleased by the compliment. “Well, thanks,” I breathed, touching my hair self-consciously.

“Well don’t just stand there grinning, you ninny,” she chided. “There are people waiting for us. You have a coat?”

I grabbed it from the closet and folded it over an arm. “Where are we going?” I asked as she started away down the hall.

“We’re going to dinner first, then to check out a club, then maybe we’ll head off to the beach.”

“Hold on, I can’t go to a club. I’m not old enough. I’m only eighteen.”

Megan put a hand on my shoulder. “Relax. I got it all worked out. It’ll be fun.”

Still I balked. Whatever it was she intended, it was probably illegal. “I don’t know,” I said. “I really don’t want to get into trouble.”

Megan took my hand in both of hers. I am 5’3”, but I really felt small standing next to her at that moment. “I promise you, Shelly, it’ll be fine. If something happens, I’ll cover your ass.” She smiled wickedly. “You just do your best to keep your own ass covered when we’re in public. Now let’s go.”

“Well, alright,” I relented, telling myself I could always get a taxi back home if things started to get out of hand.

Megan led me out to the parking lot and an already very crowded Nissan Pathfinder. She opened the right rear door for me. “Scoot over, Case,” she said to the girl sitting by the door. She was short, with reddish-brown hair and a cute, freckled face. I slid onto the seat next to her.

Megan stood in the open door. She pointed to the driver seat and a very pretty latino girl. She had brown hair with blond highlights. “That’s Araceli, Casey’s the one next to you.” She pointed to the left seat, and a sharply-dressed young man with blond hair shaved close to his head. “Darren is right there. Back here is Laura.” I turned to my left to see a full-figured girl with curly black hair wave with her fingers. “And this is Rachel.” The last girl, sitting behind me, had straight black hair and appeared to be of mixed ancestry, maybe Italian and American. “Case and me are sophomores. Rachel’s a junior, and the rest of them are frosh. There, I hope you paid attention. There will be a quiz later. Everyone, say hi to Shelly.”

When everyone had said their hellos, Megan closed the door and got in on the front passenger side. “Everybody fine with The Palace?” she asked. A chorus of “yes” followed. “Good. I’m starving.”

As the vehicle started moving, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Hey, aren’t you in my math class?” Rachel asked.

I looked at the girl more closely. I couldn’t remember seeing her before. “You’re in 3C?” she asked.

“Yeah. I thought it was you. I usually sit two rows back from you. We should study for the midterm together.”

“Yeah, sure.” I couldn’t think of anything more to say. Fortunately, Megan was there to break the silence. She turned on the radio and cranked up the volume. “The Real Slim Shady” was playing, the bass line striking me right in the chest. Megan began to move to the beat, encouraging everyone else to do the same.

I folded my arms across my lap, wincing at a particularly loud passage. I’d never danced in my life. It made me feel self-conscious to have people expecting me to, even if we were inside a car. Megan must have seen my reaction, because she turned it down to a more reasonable level. She began to point out the landmarks for me, saving me from further embarrassment. I noticed that she rested her hand on Araceli’s leg and that the other girl didn’t seem to mind.