by Clark, Mia
"Um... I think I'm going to go take a shower, too..." Ashley says, kind of shy and cute as fuck.
"Are you now?" her mom asks, grinning wide.
"Should just take a shower with Ethan," my dad says, grinning, too. "Save some quarters."
"That's not why I'm going!" she shouts, almost squeaking a little.
It's kind of funny and I start to laugh. My dad and her mom tease her a little more, but she ignores them and stomps over to the tent to grab her things, too. I wait for her, because I'm a nice guy like that. Yeah, high quality boyfriend material right here, don't you forget it.
Ashley comes out of the tent, and when she sees me waiting for her, she looks a little surprised.
"What's that look for?" I ask her, smirking.
"Were you waiting for me?" she asks.
"Yeah?"
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"Go!" my stepmom says. "Go take a shower. Hurry up so we can plan our day!"
"Hey, listen," I counter, trying to put on a straight face. "I have to make sure I clean up nice. Need to be presentable. Respectability takes time, alright?"
"Oh, right," Ashley says, rolling her eyes at me. "Who are you trying to impress, Ethan?"
"You, for starters," I tell her.
She starts to blush. My stepmom gives me a silent nod and a thumbs up behind Ashley's back. My dad just sighs and shakes his head.
"Come on, Princess," I say, nudging her elbow with mine. "Let's go shower. I don't know what these freaks over here think we're going to be doing, but all I'm planning on doing is showering."
"Oh, um... yup!" Ashley says, nodding fast. "That's all we're going to be doing is showering."
"You're blowing our cover," I tell her.
"What do you mean I'm blowing our cover? We're just going to shower, Ethan."
"Listen, literally no one is going to buy that the way you're saying it."
"How am I even saying it? I'm not saying it any weird way. You're dumb."
"It's true," her mom says. "We're not buying it, honey."
"Not at all," my dad says.
"You don't have to buy anything!" Ashley says in protest. "I'm... I'm going to take a shower with my boyfriend and that's all!"
Oooooh damn. She played the boyfriend card. This just got real.
Yeah, well, seriously, though. Shower. We don't have all day here, Princess. I start to head over there, walking slow. She doesn't notice at first.
"It looks like your boyfriend is leaving you behind, though," her mom tells her.
"What?" Ashley spins around and sees me walking away. It's not even that far, maybe ten feet or something, but she stares at me wide-eyed like I've traveled across the country without telling her. "Ethan! Where are you going?"
"Uh, showers? They're up front?"
She puts her hands on her hips and glares at me, which is pretty entertaining considering her hands are filled with a small tote bag of shower essentials and her change of clothes.
"Ugh!" she says.
Ugh? Yeah, sure, let's go with it. If the worst thing that happens to me today is a silly, pouty "ugh" from Ashley, then today's going to be fucking perfect.
*** Ashley
I'm just going to take a shower. I am just going to take a shower. I am just going to take a shower.
I repeat this mantra over and over again. I don't know who I'm trying to convince, because it's just Ethan and I walking right now, but I feel like I should be ready just in case, right? What if someone sees us and they ask where we're going.
"I'm just going to take a shower!" I say out loud. This is practice.
"Who are you even talking to?" Ethan asks, giving me a weird look, one eye-brow raised.
"Um..."
From out of the woods behind us, a giant furry animal comes running over. It's the dog.
"I'm talking to the dog!" I tell Ethan. "I didn't want him to worry about where we were going."
"Look, Princess. Talking to the dog is my thing," Ethan says. "You can't talk to the dog like that."
The dog comes trotting up beside us, walking with us, his tongue sticking out, panting happily.
"I can talk to the dog however I want," I say. Turning to the dog, I add, "Right? You like when I talk to you, don't you, Gilgamesh?"
"Did you just call the dog Gilgamesh? Are you trying to name my dog right out from under me?"
"He's not your dog, Ethan," I say, sticking out my tongue at him. "You found him in the woods, but he's not yours."
"No way, of course he is," Ethan says. "We're best buds. Right, Dog?"
"You can't just call him Dog. He needs a real name."
"Oh, yeah? Like Gilgamesh? What's that even mean?"
"He was a Sumerian King!" I say. "I watched this anime once and in it Gilgamesh was the King of All Heroes and Possessor of Everything, too. It was really interesting, actually. I don't think that's historically accurate, but I liked the idea a lot."
"Wait, what are you doing watching anime?" Ethan asks.
"Um... what do you mean? I was just watching it... no reason..."
Is that too nerdy? Oh my God, it's too nerdy, isn't it? I didn't think about this. I bet Ethan thinks I'm weird now. Weird in a bad way, I mean.
I don't think it is, though. I thought the show was interesting, and I still do! I would watch it again, even. I...
"Look, did you like it or not? Don't go doing that wishy-washy bullshit thing where you try to pretend you're not into it just to impress me. How does that even work? I don't get it."
"Um... I did like it. Yes?"
This is when he breaks up with me, isn't it? Well, I have news for you, Ethan. You can't break up with me. It's one of the rules. Rule number twenty.
"That's cool," Ethan says. "What was it called? I used to watch anime a lot when I was younger, but I haven't had a chance to do it for awhile now."
"Wait, what? You? Ethan Colton, star quarterback of the football team, muscle-bound jock, bad boy extraordinaire—"
He interrupts me with a narrow-eyed, furrowed brow look, his nose scrunched up and his lips curled and everything.
"Where do you think I learned how to be such a badass?" Ethan asks, sounding proud of himself.
I just laugh. "I don't believe you. You're lying."
"Hey, I wouldn't lie to you. I think that's one of our rules, isn't it?"
"Um... yup. Sort of. Rule number seven," I tell him.
"I've watched a few," he says. "It's the voices, though. They sound weird sometimes."
"That's why you watch it with subtitles," I say with a nod. "Then you get the original tone and inflection of the Japanese voice actors, but you can read the subtitles in English and know what they're saying. I guess you could learn Japanese, too. I'd like to some day, but it's not a high priority. Once I'm done my core classes in college I was thinking about..."
"Whoa whoa whoa," Ethan says, grinning.
The dog barks at me, too. Wait, he's not just the dog! Gilgamesh, King of Heroes!
He helped bring Ethan back to me, and so I think he's deserving of that title. Because I kind of think maybe Ethan is my hero, so, um...
"Who knew that Little Miss Perfect had a secret life as some crazy anime princess? Crazy, man..."
"I am not!" I say.
Gilgamesh barks at Ethan, too.
"See, he agrees with me?"
"We should watch that show," Ethan says. "With the subtitles or whatever. When we get back from camping. It sounds pretty cool."
"What, really?" I say, confused.
Ethan intentionally bumps into me while we're walking. "Yeah, really. Why not?"
"With Gilgamesh, too?" I ask.
"Maybe he needs a nickname or something," Ethan says, contemplative. "How about Hero?"
"Ooh, that's a nice name. I like it."
"Hero?" Ethan says to the dog formerly known as Gilgamesh. Hero barks in approval.
"I think he likes you," I say.
We're almost to the front now, almost to
the showers. And... we have a dog with us. Um... how am I supposed to seduce my stepbrother in the shower when there's a dog with us? I mean, obviously Hero won't be in the shower with us, but we can't exactly keep him out, either. There's space under the stall doors and he could sneak in, and...
Caleb spots us through the window in the front office. A second later he comes out, jogging towards us. He waves, then notices the dog with us. Hero barks a greeting to Caleb, and Caleb goes over to pat him, scruffing up his neck.
"Hey, uh... hey," Caleb says, nervous.
"Hey," Ethan says, cool and relaxed.
He's not fooling anyone, though! Or, I guess he's fooling everyone but me. Ethan is being slightly nicer to Caleb today, which I think is good. We need to help Caleb later, so it better be good, at least.
"Hi, Caleb!" I say, trying to show the enthusiasm that Ethan's lacking. "How are you?"
"Good," Caleb says, smiling while he pets Hero. "I told my dad everything that happened. Uh... not everything. The short version, I guess? Anyways, he's looking into it, but he thinks the dog might be an old stray. He could have been out there for awhile, but he seems alright. My dad's going to look into it a little, but he thinks he might have belonged to this guy who lived nearby awhile ago. He moved, though, so..."
"So?" Ethan says, defensive.
"We can bring him to the local humane society for you," Caleb says. "My dad doesn't mind. They can check him for fleas and get him updated on his shots and all of that. He looks fine, but you never know. A dog like him should do good around here, too. Someone will adopt him."
"Wait, hold up," Ethan says. "You're not taking Gilgamesh."
"Oh, he's Gilgamesh now?" I ask, giggling. "I thought you didn't like that name?"
"His full name. He needs to sound like a real badass. Gilgamesh Colton, King of Heroes, for real."
"Er...?" Caleb scrunches up his brow and gives Ethan a strange look.
"Colton-Banks," I add. "That's his last name, I think."
"Yeah," Ethan says. "Yeah, that sounds good. Makes it more legit."
"I don't understand what you're saying," Caleb says. "Who's Gilgamesh... Colton-Banks?"
"The dog," Ethan says, jerking his head towards the dog. "Seriously, weren't you listening, kid? You can't adopt away my dog. I'm keeping him."
"You're just going to keep some dog you found in the woods?" Caleb asks. "I don't think that's how this works."
"Why the fuck not?" Ethan asks.
"Er... I don't know?"
"It's the same as someone else adopting him, isn't it?" I ask.
"Yeah... I guess..."
"But, hey, do you mind dogsitting for us for a second?" Ethan says, quick. "We're going to go take a shower."
Oh! Oh oh oh, I planned for this! I practiced and everything!
"We're just going to take a shower!" I say, steady and firm.
Ethan, Caleb, and Hero look at me like I have two heads. What? What did I do?
"You're fucking weird, Princess," Ethan says, laughing. "Seriously."
"Are you two... in the shower..." Caleb says?
"Caleb! What did I just say!" Really, I just said it! "I said we're just going to take a shower! That's it!"
"No one's even buying that, Princess," Ethan says. "You don't have to pretend anymore."
"I'm not pretending," I say, pouting and glaring at Ethan.
"Oh, uh... I can watch the dog, though," Caleb says. "Does he know any tricks?"
"Yeah," Ethan says. "He knows every trick. All of them."
"Oh, cool," Caleb says. "Shake?" he asks Hero, holding out his hand.
Hero sits down and stares at Caleb's hand, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. After a second he nudges against Caleb's hand like he wants to be petted.
"He only listens to cool people," Ethan says. "You've got to up your game, kid."
"What? That's not true, is it?" Caleb asks. "Ashley, is that true? I'm cool, right? Kind of... And we're the same age, Ethan! I'm not a kid. You're the same age as me."
"Don't worry, you'll grow up to be as cool as me one day, Caleb. I'll help you out, bro."
"We really appreciate you watching Hero for us, though," I say, smiling. "Um... you can call him that instead of Gilgamesh. I was just making up weird names for him. If our parents are alright with it, we can adopt him and take him home with us, too. I think bringing him to the vet or whatever you think needs to be done is good, though. Can you help us with that?"
This is serious. Caleb nods, determined. "Yes, I will help. He seems like a cool dog, too. I'll see if I can teach him how to shake while I'm watching him."
"I told you, he only listens to cool people," Ethan says, shrugging. "You don't have to worry about it."
"I'm cool!" Caleb says. "I'll show you. Hero will shake with me by the time you're done, um... just showering..."
"We're just going to take a shower, Caleb!" I shout.
Seriously, why does no one believe me?
*** Ashley
"We're just taking a shower, Ethan," I say, kind of mumbling and nervous.
I really shouldn't be nervous. There's nothing to worry about anymore, right? We basically just walked into the shower stall without a care in the world, and while no one saw us, I'm not sure it would have mattered, either. It did seem a little sneaky, though, and I did peek both ways to make sure no one was watching us go into the shower together.
Because, really, it's not exactly strange to shower together, and Caleb said that people do it for any number of reasons besides sexy ones, but I'm not sure I believe him.
Also this isn't sexy. Nuh uh. Nope! This is just, um... we're just taking a shower.
"Oh yeah?" Ethan asks, staring at me with one eyebrow raised, a horribly mischievous look on his face. "You keep telling yourself that, Princess."
"I'm being serious!" I say, stomping one foot down and standing tall. Serious! That's what this is.
Ethan puts his things on the bench opposite the showerhead. There's plenty of room between the two, so everything should be fine, but it's just the way he does it. Just puts his clothes down on the bench, sets up his shampoo and conditioner and everything, then starts taking off his shirt like I'm not even there with him.
He does it slow, too, teasing the cloth up his torso, lifting it slowly so that I can see every inch of his body being revealed. He even tightens his abs, flexing for me while I watch him strip. When he's done, he tosses his shirt next to the rest of his clothes.
Then he looks at me. I... um...
I'm clinging to my clothes, holding them tight to my chest. I don't know what to do. I really don't know what to do. What are we supposed to be doing?
We've done this so many times before, and I think it should be so easy right now. It should be easy because our parents know, and there's no need to hide it, but...
What are we hiding? We're just taking a shower!
Ethan walks towards me, standing close. Very quietly, he takes my clothes from me and puts them on the bench next to his. I'm still holding my hands close to my chest, kind of guarded, but that doesn't bother him. He steps even closer to me, my hands tight between my chest and his bare chest now. He wraps his arms around me, holding me tight. His fingers dip beneath the bottom of my shirt, touching my bare skin.
I tremble at his touch, and I look up, my lip quivering, body shaking.
Ethan pulls me close to him, his hips pressing against mine. I still have my hands between us, but that's it. I don't know what to do with them, so I just leave them there while I look up at him. He smiles down at me, and then he kisses me on the nose.
"You just want to take a shower, Princess?" he asks.
I nod fast. It's not that I don't want to do more, it's just...
He wraps his fingers in the bottom of my shirt and lifts it up. My arms stop him, though.
"Lift up," he says, kissing me quick.
I do as he says, lifting my hands. Slow and careful, taking his time, Ethan pulls my shirt up and away, then tosses it
with our clothes. He moves to unsnap my bra after, removing it with expert precision. I guess that's one of the benefits of dating a bad boy? He definitely doesn't have any trouble removing my bra.
I laugh a little, and Ethan smiles. He puts my bra with the rest of our clothes, and then we're standing there, front to front, our upper bodies completely naked.
"We're just taking a shower, right?" he says to me.
Yes, he says this, but his hand sneaks towards my stomach, his fingers trailing a smooth line up past my belly button, then further still until he's cupping the underside of my breast.
"J-just a sh-shower," I say, my teeth chattering.
I shiver and I try to pretend I'm cold, but mostly it's because he moves his thumb up until it rubs lightly at my nipple. The rest of his hand holds just under my breasts, his fingers pressing lightly at the sides.
"Mhm, just a shower," Ethan says, smiling and kissing me again. "We've got to take your shorts off, though."
My eyes grow wide and I look up at him again. "Um... alright..."
While he cups one of my breasts, his other hand moves towards the front of my shorts. He unzips them first, then undoes the button one handed. His hand slips beneath the waistband of my shorts in the front, then circles around towards the back, moving a little lower as he does, making my shorts fall slowly. When his hand is entirely behind me, he presses his fingers into the curves of my butt, squeezing slightly.
"Underwear, too, Princess," Ethan says. "They've got to go. Do you want to do it, or do you want me to?"
I bury my face in his shoulder, nervous and aroused and embarrassed and...
"You," I murmur into his warm skin. "Please."
"Alright, babygirl," he says. "You're going to have to help me a little here."
He moves both hands down to my hips this time, dipping his fingers beneath the waistband of my panties. Slowly, he moves my underwear downwards, but he bends lower, too. He shifts away from me, my face no longer pressed against his shoulder, and kneels down. My panties follow suit until he's got them to my ankles. I lift one foot up, stepping out of them, then the other, and now I'm completely naked.