The Truth About Friendships

4. The Showers

When I returned to my dorm, I unloaded the remainder of my semester's belongings. I'm curious to see what this year has in store for me. You can imagine how things are going right now. I tried not to think about how much Ren's comments earlier affected me because, after all, who is he? He's just someone I met recently, and he has no power over me. His opinions are unimportant. Despite the massive wall... school isn't all that bad. Given the circumstances, this year hasn't been as bad as my freshman year at Gabriel's and college. My first year was crazy, and I don't want to relive any of it. But I persisted and eventually made it through.

Despite the fact that I've been alone for two days, I'm looking forward to meeting my new roommate tomorrow. I decided to waste time by rearranging my belongings around the room. After I finish cleaning, I turn on my computer and watch a TV show or something.

That reminds me that I haven't heard from Gabriel in a long time. I made the decision to call my best friend. Maybe he'll come over and hang out with me.

"Hello, Kimora. What's going on?" His voice is slurred.

"Hey." I let out a sigh into the phone.

"What's the problem? It's after 12 p.m." He sounded worried.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I woke you up, didn't I?" I had forgotten how late it was.

"No, no, no. It's fine." He laughed.

I remained silent.

"Do you want me to come over?" He said something to break the silence.

"Yes, it's boring as hell here," I admit with a chuckle.

"All right, I'll be over there soon." He then hangs up the phone.

I breathed a sigh of relief because I was relieved he was coming over. I was missing him. I should take a shower before he arrives; I still smell like today's humiliating scent. I jump out of bed, gather my belongings, and make my way to the shower. Because it's so late tonight, I'm hoping there's no one in there.

When I arrive, I notice that someone has already occupied one of the stalls. The first curtain had already been drawn, and I could hear water running from the inside. Damn it. Nonetheless, I entered the empty stall at the far end and turned on the water.

I could hear faint laughter coming from the occupied stall as I was peeling off my clothes. It didn't, however, sound like a single voice. There were... two voices. The voice of a woman. Then there was a lower pitched voice.

What the fuck?

It's only been two days of my new semester, and I've already discovered this nonsense. I roll my eyes and begin to remove the rest of my clothing. The sooner I shower, the sooner I'll be able to leave this place.

As if my bad luck couldn't get any worse, I realized I hadn't brought my scrub with me. I quickly wrapped my towel around my naked body and ran as fast as I could towards the door, hoping they wouldn't see or hear me.

"I'll be right back." From the stall, I heard a low voice say. I also heard their curtain slide open at that point. I slammed face-first into the boy's wet chest as he walked out into the path I was running down. He lost his balance as a result of the impact and collapsed, bringing me with him.