Girls' Dormitory Read Online Free PDF Page B

to be shot."
    "Yes. Or something else."
    One afternoon when Helen and Peggy left the school it was snowing, but the snow quickly changed to rain and in a matter of moments they were both soaking wet.
    "Let's get a cab," Peggy suggested.
    "Where?"
    "Well, there ought to be one along. If we wait on one of these corners—"
    "You don't know this town," Helen said, kicking along through the gathering slush. "As soon as it storms all of the cabs gather downtown around the bus station and the railroad station. They get the commuters as they come in and they pick up a few fast bucks."
    The college was located in the northern part of the city, near the city limits. In fact, some of the land extended into the county and this was where the school officials said any new buildings would be constructed.
    "I hate to get soppy wet," Peggy said. "It's a good way to catch a cold."
    Helen shivered and nodded her agreement.
    "The thing to do is take a hot shower," Helen said. "As soon as we get to the house."
    "If there's any hot water."
    The hot water was always running out at Mrs. Reid's. It was a constant race to see who could wash their stockings and underthings first, before the water started running cold.
    "Jerry says Mrs. Reid doesn't have a big enough boiler," Helen said. "He says that she ought to have a great big one run by automatic gas and not one of those pot stove things that she has."
    Peggy had met Jerry several times. She hadn't thought very much about him but at the moment she guessed that she didn't like him. He was big and strong and whenever he looked at her she felt as though she were being mentally undressed. Some of the other girls said the same thing, but a few of them, those like Evelyn, said he could be wonderful, just wonderful. And Peggy knew what was meant by that.
    It was growing dark when they reached Mrs. Reid's and the rain was coming down harder than ever. Their wet shoes made funny sounds as they crossed the front porch and Helen opened the door. Inside it was warm, almost hot, and Peggy could smell the steam from the radiators.
    There was no one in the large living room; few, if any, of the girls had yet arrived from school, and those who worked in the stores never got in until around seven or later.
    "We're in luck," Helen exclaimed as they started up the stairs. "There'll be hot water all over the place."
    But there wasn't. The water was barely warm and when Helen returned to their room from the bathroom, wrapped in a red robe, she made an unkind and vulgar remark about Jerry Dixon.
    "The lazy bum," Helen said. "I bet he's been goofing off all afternoon."
    "The walk was shoveled when we came in." Peggy didn't know why she was defending Jerry; he meant nothing to her. "Maybe he was so busy outside that he forgot to take care of the pot stove."
    "Maybe."
    Peggy began to undress, pulling the wet dress up over her head. Helen watched her silently for a moment.
    "I didn't take my shower," Helen said as Peggy hung the dress near the radiator. "I thought you wanted to take one, too, but the only way we'll both get one is to take it together."
    Peggy paused and fingered her wet slip. She realized, suddenly, that she had never seen Helen completely naked, nor had she ever entirely undressed in front of Helen. They had seen each other in panties and bras but in nothing less. She suddenly knew that, as far as she was concerned, the avoidance of such a thing had been deliberate. She had never exposed herself to anyone, not even to another girl or to a doctor, and nights when she had gotten ready for bed—and she was always first in bed—she had put on her shortie nightie before unhooking her bra or slipping out of her panties. And after she was in bed, she had turned her face to the wall, not watching as Helen moved around the room, dropping her clothes all over the place. Later, when they were in bed together, she always pressed against the wall, wondering about the almost naked body beside her, her mouth dry and