A Gift Amongst Friends Ch. 04

Her body tensed up as a single finger slipped between the folds of her womanhood. A soft moan escaped her lips.

There came a sound from the door as someone tried turning the knob.

Oh, fuck! Mandy was thankful that she had remembered to lock the door.

She could hear keys rattling as she darted towards the floor to grab the pants at her feet. She nearly tripped over them as she pulled upwards and moved back towards her bed. The material bunched around her knees as she tugged desperately. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

She finally slipped the pants into place as she heard the click of the door unlocking.

Still topless, she reached for her shirt, tossing it back and forth, looking for the opening. She found it just as the door handle turned and the door started to open.

"Just a second!" Mandy shouted, turning her back towards the door. But it was too late.

As it swung open, she pulled the shirt up over her head. With her bare back exposed, she struggled for a couple of seconds to pull it down over her arms and into place.

"Oh fuck, sorry!" Her roommate exclaimed from behind her. "I didn't know you were changing!"

Mandy's heart sank as she turned around. Him. Standing behind Megan was Alex. He looked back at her with smile. It's okay, he didn't see anything...just my back...maybe the side of my breast. The reassurance did nothing to help the nausea forming in her stomach. He saw way more skin than he should have. "It's okay," she responded with all the fake sincerity she could muster. "No harm done."

"Nice tattoo," Alex said gleefully. He obviously meant the flowers on Mandy's lower back.

"Thanks," she responded coldly, adjusting her shirt. She felt self-conscious of the fact that she was not wearing a bra underneath.

"Yeah," Megan interjected. "I was thinking of getting another tattoo sometime soon, but I was thinking of getting something on my leg or the side of my waist."

"Aww, you don't think you would look good with a tramp stamp?" Alex joked, turning to his girlfriend. "A cute little slutty tattoo right here?" He poked Megan's lower back.

Mandy knew the jab was really meant for her. She looked down and noticed that her nipples were poking out against the material of her t-shirt. Her arms instinctively wanted to raise across her chest, but she refrained, afraid that it might draw more attention to her embarrassing situation.

"Of course I would!" Megan responded confidently. "But it's a little too girly for me. It looks good on Mandy though!" There was an awkward silence before Megan changed the subject. "Oh! Speaking of slutty things, did you hear what happened at the concert?"

Mandy shook her head.

"Apparently there was some wild stuff going on in the back of the crowd. We didn't see it, but Tom and Nick said there were two or three naked girls and they started giving out blowjobs or something like that.

Mandy's eyes widened. Jess!? Holy fuck...

"Yeah, I didn't believe it at first either," Megan continued. "But some other people were talking about it on the way back. They said that some guys started fucking them right there, in the audience."

"Yeah, it was pretty wild from what I heard," Alex explained. "Nick and Tom said they got a pretty good view of the whole thing...lucky bastards." He laughed.

Megan playfully hit him in the chest. "Yeah? And I bet a look is all they got?"

Oh god Jess, what did you do?

"Hey," he responded. "I wouldn't blame them! Good music and a free blowjob! Some guys were saying that they were pretty hot, but nobody knows who they are yet."

"Well, too bad for you. I'm the only naked girl you get to see tonight!" Megan laughed as she walked over to her dresser and started taking off her jewelry. "Oh, and I guess you saw Mandy when we came in, but that doesn't count!" She laughed at her own joke, oblivious to the look that Alex gave Mandy and oblivious to how red Mandy turned in response.

Megan grabbed a few things from her drawers and Mandy tuned out the rest of their conversation. Soon, the two intruders were gone again to spend the evening at Alex's.

Mandy turned off the light and crawled into bed. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, deep in thought before finally drifting off to sleep.

The dream was one that she had dreamt several times before. She showered with her roommate while her friends and classmates looked on. Hands held her naked body to the bed, but she did not want to fight them.

She opened her eyes, unsure whether she had heard a noise. The room was lit up from the sunlight pouring through the open curtains. Morning already? For a moment, she could not be sure if she was still dreaming.

Silence.

Her heavy eyelids started to close of their own will until she heard the noise again—a light knock at the door.

She rose and slowly made her way toward the source of the noise.

Looking through the peephole of her door, she decided that she must indeed still be asleep. Even so, she slowly opened the door to find Jess looking back at her. Or, more accurately, her neighbor stared at the floor before her feet. She shot occasional glances at Mandy's eyes before returning her gaze to a fixed spot in the carpet between the two girls.

"Hey..." Mandy greeted with hesitation. Although Jess was cleaned up now, in a conservative shirt and jeans, Mandy could not forget the completely different girl that she had met the previous night. It's like night and day.

"Hi Mandy." She paused. "I know this is...unusual, but...well, I was wondering if you wanted to...uh...I mean, do you want to do something later? That is, get a coffee or something?" She hardly gave Mandy a chance to respond before interjecting. "I mean, it's okay if not. I just thought maybe you might want to."

Something about this girl made Mandy feel warm and fuzzy inside. She was so quiet...so shy. Undeniably cute, in her own way. What could she have possibly gotten herself into last night? Did she have a dark side, or did she just get in over her head? Either way, Mandy decided that she wanted to get to know her better...even if this invitation was highly unusual. "Yeah, sure. What time is it now?"

"I think it's almost 11:30." Jess stopped for a second, and her eyes shot wide. "Oh god, did I wake you up? I am so sorry." Mandy thought for a second that this small mouse might run back to her hole in fright.

"No, no," She lied. "I've been up for a while. Just haven't really gotten out of bed." She looked back into her room, then back at Jess. "I'd be up for coffee this afternoon. How about I come get you at 2?"

They agreed on the time and then parted ways, leaving Mandy to get dressed and grab lunch. Should I pretend that last night never happened, or should I ask, she wondered as she grabbed a pair of jeans from the closet and put on a relatively modest t-shirt.

When the time came, the two girls made small talk on the walk to the elevator. Mandy learned that Jess was indeed a freshman and had not settled on a major yet, but she was leaning towards English with a minor in History. Mandy told about the small town nearby, where she had grown up.

As they stepped outside, the conversation died down noticeably. They walked through campus and passed the courtyard, where volunteers were still cleaning up from the previous evening's concert. Mandy looked over at Jess, who looked straight ahead without so much as glancing at the venue.

As they left the campus, the conversation picked up again. Soon, they had walked a block to a nearby café.

Jess ordered a chai tea, and Mandy ordered a cappuccino. The two girls found a quiet table in the corner.

A quiet awkwardness started to settle in again. Mandy was starting to learn that she did not, in fact, have all that much in common with Jess, other than a shared love of reading.

An itch bore at the back of Mandy's mind. I have to know. It's the reason we are here, and I have to know.

"So," Mandy tiptoed. "You were at the show last night?"

Jess stared intently at her mug. She had obviously known that this was coming. She only nodded in reply.

Mandy looked around and leaned forward. "What happened?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Jess turned the mug clockwise, then back. She bit her lip, and Mandy thought she might have gone mute. Finally, she whispered back, "I...I don't really know." She took a drink and thought for a moment. "I was with my friend, crowd surfing, and then...then, the next thing I know, I am fighting for my clothes."

"Your friend?"

"Raven," Jess answered. Mandy was pretty sure she knew the girl. She seemed like an uptight sort. "We got separated though," Jess continued. She took another drink. "The next thing I know...they are...well, you know."

Mandy nodded in response.

"And the worst part is, I thought I would feel worse about it...after." She looked at Mandy and then quickly corrected herself. "Oh god, I mean...I don't want you to think that I am...like that. I just...I've never done anything like that before."

"It's okay. I'm not judging you," Mandy reassured. "So...you...went along with it?"

"Not at first. I was scared. I couldn't see and everyone was stealing my clothes. I was helpless—It was terrifying. But...after a while...have you ever wondered what it would be like to just...stop thinking for minute and just go with the flow? After a while, I sort of lost track of what was happening, and yeah...I guess I sort of went along with it. Oh god, I hope you don't think I'm a slut."

"No, no, of course not." Keep going. Please, keep going. Mandy tried to mask her own excitement as she listened to Jess' story.

"I don't really know what happened after that. I was passed around, and they...used me. Oh, and I lost my phone and wallet."

There was a silence as the two girls stared forward, each waiting for the other to speak. Mandy finally spoke up first. "Just out of curiosity...why are you telling me this?"

"I...I haven't told anyone else yet, but I felt like I had to tell someone. I can't talk to my friends about it. I can't tell Raven. She's..."

"...judgemental," Mandy completed the thought.

"Yeah," Jess sighed. "I thought, well, you already saw me last night. I figured I could trust you not to tell anyone...or to judge me."

There it is again. "You said that last night too. Don't get me wrong, I'm not judging. But what did you mean by that?"

"Well, umm, I don't know if you remember this, but last week I was in the hall, and I saw you coming out of Andrew's room..."

Mandy nodded, blushing. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean for you to see me...and I guess I didn't mean to be there either. I was pretty drunk that night."

"Yeah, I could tell. Are you guys dating? I've seen you over there a couple of times."

"No, definitely not." Mandy felt a little uncomfortable. Jess obviously remembered that evening better than she did, and she wasn't entirely sure how much her neighbor had seen. She decided to steer the conversation back towards last night. "Well, I'm glad that you opened up to me. So...how do you...feel about what happened last night?"

"Honestly?" Jess paused. "I don't even know. It was humiliating...degrading. I feel ashamed. I think some of my classmates might have seen me. But...I don't know...it actually wasn't that bad. I know, that's a fucked up thing to say, but...it was...just sort of exhilarating." She looked up at Mandy to gauge her response. "Maybe I am just messed up."

"No, you're not. I..." Mandy wanted to open up to her new friend, but she was not ready just yet. "I understand." What you are describing is pretty much my nightly fantasy, she thought, but she held her tongue. "It sounds scary, but it also sounds sort of thrilling."

"Yeah," Jess replied, obviously ashamed of her confession.

Maybe we have more in common than I thought...

Jess shifted the conversation back towards school, and Mandy respected her desire to change the subject. They talked about upcoming exams. With only a week left to classes, both girls were in the final stretch for term papers and assignments.

About an hour after their arrival, the girls walked back to their dorm and went their separate ways.

The next several days passed rather uneventfully, and Mandy slowly tried to integrate Jess into her own group of friends. Jess' shyness made the transition difficult, but within days she was eating lunch with the group on a semi-regular basis.

As promised, Mandy kept Jess' secret to herself, but many times she was tempted to reveal it simply to show everyone that Jess was not as boring as she first appeared.

Thursday afternoon, Mandy and Katrina were waiting for their final Psychology class to begin. As they sat, chatting about exams, Mandy received a text message from Sarah.

"toga party tomorrow. cool?"

With classes ending soon, the girls received almost-daily invitations to parties, both on and off campus. Most of them sounded relatively lame to Mandy, but Sarah insisted that she wanted to go to this particular toga party at the boys' dorm. Mandy was not usually interested in these types of parties, and she was especially wary of stepping foot in the boys' dorm—they were, after all, her neighbors, and some of the main benefactors of her recent bout of exhibitionism.

However, Sarah was adamant. There was a boy that she had started seeing from the dorm, and she wanted to solidify their relationship before summer separated them for four months. She assured Mandy that nobody would recognize them, and she reminded Mandy that she had flashed them too.

Believe me, Mandy thought, I showed them much more.

For all intents and purposes, Sarah was telling Mandy that they were going rather than asking her. Mandy had said that she would think about it. Now, Sarah was texting for confirmation.

"yeah sure," Mandy texted back, yielding once again to her best friend.

"awsum. i will meet u after ur class. gotta favor to ask u," Sarah responded.

Great, Mandy thought. Another favor.

Sure enough, Sarah was waiting in the hall for her after class. Katrina waved to Sarah and went on to her next class down the hall.

"Hey, what's up?" Mandy greeted. Although she was worried about tomorrow night's party, she certainly was not angry with her friend. Sarah had done her hundreds of favors over the years, and Mandy was not the type to turn down a friendly request.

"Hi. Not much. Are you busy tonight?"

"No, I don't think so," Mandy responded. "Why?"

"I mean, are you going to be around?" Sarah clarified.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, you know Eric?"

Well, I don't really 'know' him, Mandy thought. I just know she likes him and he is the main reason we are going to the party tomorrow. Sarah had gone out with Eric a couple of times, but Mandy had not heard anything about him in the past couple of weeks, so she thought that maybe it had been over.

"Well," Sarah continued, "we've been flirting a lot lately, and I thought it might be fun to send him a few pictures..."

Mandy almost snorted with laughter. She knew her friend well enough to know what type of pictures she meant. "Oh my god, are you serious? You just met him!"

"No, we've known each other for a couple of months. I just think it would be a fun way to show him...that I am interested."

Mandy knew that she was certainly in no position to judge, considering that she had recently exposed herself to friends, neighbors, and complete strangers. "Sure," she answered with a laugh. "You can come by and borrow the camera any time. You know that."

"I don't just want to borrow it, though. I was hoping...that you could take a couple of them."

Mandy was stunned.

"I know you're a great photographer," Sarah continued. "And I know that I can trust you to keep it to yourself...plus, you sorta already have experience with these kinds of pictures."

Mandy looked around to make sure that nobody was listening, but everyone in the hallway seemed to be going about their own business unaware—or indifferent—to the girls' conversation. "I don't know what to say," she trailed off. Am I dreaming? This seemed exactly like the sort of surreal situation that occurred on an almost-nightly basis between her eyelids as she slept. She struggled to hide the lump in her throat and the flutter that coursed through her body. "Yeah...I can take some pictures...if that's what you want."

Mandy had used friends as models before in her photography, but never like this. The thought of her beautiful best friend, in any sort of compromising position set her imagination ablaze. She tried to calm herself. I'm sure she just plans to take some sexy tease photos. Provocative poses. Nothing too risky. Even so, the thought of expanding her own skillset as a photographer was exciting in its own right.

"Thanks," Sarah responded. "I was thinking of doing it tonight, if that's okay. That way I can send them to him before the party tomorrow. I think my roommate's going to be gone out later, so we can probably do it at my place, but I will text you later."

"Sure, I was just going to study tonight. Just text me to keep me posted."

"No problem, and thanks again."

The girls said their farewells and parted ways. Mandy returned to her dorm room and dropped off her stuff. She closed the door and stared at her camera.

I can't believe this is happening, she thought. A large share of her recent fantasies had involved Sarah, and now things seemed to be going in Mandy's favor.

She had not felt this excited and anxious since the night that she gave David the naked photos of herself—the same evening when she may or may not have kissed Sarah. Two weeks had passed, and Mandy still could not tell if she had imagined that kiss or not. The thought of it still gave her butterflies.

She went to dinner, but she hardly ate. Some of her friends were discussing the toga party. None of her male friends were interested in going, and it did not seem like many of the girls would be attending either. So far, the list included Mandy, Sarah, and Ashley. Katrina had expressed some mild interest, but Mandy knew her well enough to be skeptical. She would be cute in a toga, Mandy thought, but she would never go out in public in one.

Mandy had also asked Jess if she was interested, but her newest friend quickly turned down the offer. After everything that had happened last week, and given her shyness, Mandy could understand why.

She returned to her room and played with her camera for some time, pondering ideas for the photo shoot. What type of pictures will she want? What type of lighting will look best? In spite of her own personal excitement, Mandy was still something of a photographer and needed to retain some semblance of professionalism.

At 6:30, she received the text from her friend. Mandy's heart sank.

"Hey," Sarah texted, "my roommate is here after all. might need to reschedule :("

"aww, that sucks," Mandy responded. She tried to mask the extent of her disappointment. Sarah lived in another coed dorm a few minutes away, and her roommate's schedule was pretty inconsistent from what Mandy had gathered.

"yeah I know. i wanted to get these done tonight."

Me too, Mandy thought with a sigh. Wait a second... She had an idea. "why not just come here?" She texted. "megan is gone for the nite. im here alone." Please! Please! Please! She stared at her phone, waiting for a response. A minute passed that seemed like the longest minute of her life. She almost abandoned hope when the phone chimed.

"sure! just need to pack some stuff. u good in an hour?"

"yes. see u then." Mandy thought she might pass out. How was she possibly going to do this? She had never taken these sorts of photographs before...professionally, that is. What if Sarah is expecting some professional-level photos? She had never seen the private ones that Mandy had taken of herself—they were definitely more amateur than her usual work.