Tales by Jennie

Lisa walked down the hall to the stairs and returned to her room. There were two more bags by the door. She looked at the dresser, and saw the envelopes for Danielle and Julie were opened. Time check: 5:15. She stepped back out of the room and walked by the bathroom. She could hear the water running. She nodded to herself, affirming her suspicions.

Then she heard voices coming up from the stairs. That must be Maggie, then.

Without thinking, she ran down the steps to the lounge. There was a young woman sitting across from Maren, signing the paperwork.

Maren saw Lisa, and waved her over with a smile. "Lisa, this is Maggie. She's going to be your primary partner during your stay."

"Oh my God! You're the woman who was in the room with the other two women! That was so hot!" Maggie gushed.

"Oh umm, yeah." Lisa turned beet-red. "Hi." Lisa looked at her. She was young. She didn't look 18, much less the required 21 for participation. "So you're Maggie?"

"Yeah. Maren said you're gonna be my primary partner, whatever that means. This is gonna be fun!" Maggie grabbed Lisa's hands and shook with excitement. She turned to Maren and said "Maren, thank you so much for giving me someone so pretty."

Maren actually started to blush at that compliment, the first show of truly genuine emotion that Lisa had seen from her. She and Lisa made eye contact; Lisa shrugged at the non-verbal question.

"Umm, Maggie, how old are you?" Lisa asked.

"OMG I know! I'm always getting carded and everyone thinks I'm like 16, but I'm 23."

Well, she's got a lot of energy. And one hell of a positive attitude. Maybe this will be fun.  She gazed at the girl again. She was about 5'5" and had the body of a runner. Sun-bleached blonde hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Large brown eyes. She wrote a red skater dress with white knee-length tights under it, and blue-and-pink Sketchers. God, I would have killed to look like that at her age.

 Lisa snapped back to reality. "We have orientation at six. You don't have much time to get ready,' Lisa said.

"Okay! Lead the way!" Maggie said.

Lead the way? Lead the way!? I have no frickin clue what I'm doing. That's what Lisa wanted to say. Instead, what came out of her mouth was a very bright, and a very bubbly "Alright, follow me!" Maggie's bubbly energy was infectious, and Lisa had caught it. 

Lisa, still holding hands with Maggie, dragged her up the steps to the dormitory. She opened Maggie's drawer, pulled out the bra and panties, and shoved it closed. She grabbed Maggie again and started heading to the bathroom, then she realized that the other Julie and Danielle were both there. She turned around to address them.

"Hi. I'm Lisa, this is Maggie. I guess we're all roomies. She really needs to go get ready for orientation, though. I'll be back in a minute." She never stopped to breathe.

She turned to the door and pulled Maggie out. Maggie did manage to get off a quick "Hi" and a wave before she was whisked away.

Lisa took her to the bathroom, and pulled the toiletries basket or for Maggie, then grabbed a towel and washcloth, then practically shoved Maggie into the shower stall.

She stood there and caught her breath from the whirlwind rush. She heard Maggie start the water, and was about to leave. 

"Umm, Lisa?"

Lisa turned around to see Maggie standing there naked. "Yeah?"

Maggie ran up to Lisa and gave her a hug and a small kiss. "I just wanted to thank you for taking such great care of me." And then she ran back into the shower.

Oh you sweet, sweet child.

Lisa returned to the dorm. Danielle and Julie were still there.

"I'm sorry about that. She was so late getting here. I'm Lisa." She extended a hand to them.

"I'm Danielle." She reached for Lisa's hands, and in a split- second decision, Lisa kissed her hand instead of shaking it.

Danielle was the oldest of all the women here at 60, but she carried a youthful air about her. She was tall and slim, and very athletic. Her skin was still tight, with few age spots or sags. She took a lot of care of herself, and her age was no barrier. Her silver hair was in a chopped asymmetric pixie cut, framing her face and emphasizing her cheekbones.

"I'm Julie." Lisa took Julie's hand and kissed it too. Of all the people she met today, Julie seemed, at first glance, the most like Lisa. She was maybe a couple of years younger, but easily in the same peer group. She was about 5'7", with shoulder-length brown hair in loose waves. Lisa and Julie would not seem out of place if they were seen together under just about any circumstances.

"And that girl with me was Maggie," Lisa said. "I'm sorry again, I didn't want her to be late and cause any trouble, so I kind of was a bit pushy. Anyway, I guess we're all roommates for the next two weeks."

Ask three stood there silently eyeing one another for what was an hour in their heads, but probably closer to 15 seconds in reality.

Lisa finally broke the silence. "Julie, I like your tattoo." She had a ring of dolphins around her right ankle.

"Thanks."

Danielle sat on the bed. The others took the social cue and sat down too. "Have you girls met anyone else here? Apart from you, I've only met Maren."

Julie nodded no.

"I've met the other two people staying here," Lisa said. "Theresa and Siobhán. They're in the room across the hall from us. They've both been here before. They're nice."

The women made small talk for the next several minutes, when Maggie showed up, escorted by Siobhán and Theresa.

"Ya' seemed to have lost something," Siobhán said with a smile.

"Oh, Maggie, let me more properly introduce you to Danielle and Julie," Lisa said. "And since I'm the only one who's met everyone, Danielle, Julie, this is Siobhán, and Theresa."

"With an 'h'", Theresa added, as everyone exchanged greetings. Siobhán hit Theresa's shoulder, then said, "Oh bloody 'ell, you and your 'h'. Try going through life with people pronouncing your name 'see-oh-bawn.'"

"You know I love you, See-oh-bawn," Theresa laughed and gave Siobhán a kiss, then turned to the room. "But girls, orientation is about to start, and I want a glass of wine before it starts."

"That sounds delightful," Danielle said, and all six headed out and down the stairs.