Chapter 10

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.

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?"