Chapter 1

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?"