Iris and the Secret Library

by Shu Daizi

  Her chair was tilted back, leaving a gap between her chair and the empty one beside her. She twisted around slightly to look through the gap and see who the late-night chatters were.

  It was two girls. Young girls, maybe they were going to Bright Hall, too. But no, the emails said she would be arriving before the undergraduates. The girls looked to be college age though. They were leaning up against each other, whispering in each other’s ears.

  Iris smiled sleepily, losing her animosity at having been woken. The one closest to Iris looked older and had lovely dirty-blonde hair. Her friend was a little bit taller and had dark brown or black hair. Iris couldn’t see her clearly enough to tell. They looked so cute together. Iris felt a gentle tug of jealousy. These were friends like she had never known. Friends who take long bus trip adventures together, friends who wake each other up in the middle of the night to share secrets with, friends who kiss each other tenderly on the lips...

  Iris’s eyes widened. Clearly she had been drifting off to sleep again and was imagining... nope. The girl who had the window seat leaned even closer and kissed her partner. Iris could see the pale skin of the aisle-seat girl flush red. She pulled back a little bit, but her friend reached out and brought them back close together.

  The blonde girl acquiesced almost immediately, giving in to the dark-haired girl’s hands and leaning back toward her. They weren’t aggressive, just kissing in a friendly way. Again, Iris was struck by how nice and gentle they seemed. They were both enjoying the kiss, and it was more than a simple peck on the cheek, but there wasn’t anything urgent about it. They were both just having fun. Well, as she started to enjoy watching, she noticed that there was a little tongue now, so a little more than casual.

  Without thinking, Iris twisted a bit in her seat, and the fabric made a rough sound that to her ears was louder than if the bus had a blowout. She froze totally still, expecting the girls across the aisle to stop immediately.

  But if they heard, they didn’t react to it. Iris could hardly blame them. They had been kissing for a while now, and it looked like the blonde girl was getting really worked up. That might have had something to do with the dark-haired girl’s hands, which Iris could now see moving down the side of her friend’s blouse, further down now, to her leg, squeezing her thigh tight as they kept their lips together.

  Suddenly, the blonde squeaked ever-so-quietly as the dark-haired girl nearly picked her up and spun her up on her lap. They were both on the far seat now and Iris had to push hard against her chair to get any kind of good look at what was going on.

  Finally, they pulled apart. The blonde was sitting sideways on her friend’s lap with her back to the window, and Iris could see her face clearly. She was panting hard, then again, so was Iris, and the two girls were gazing into each other’s eyes.

  Iris heard one of them say something, but she couldn’t understand. The blonde nodded enthusiastically, and the hands of her friend started to go to work again. This time Iris could see both hands. One reached up to caress her friend over her blouse, side, belly, and a slow teasing move up to her breasts that caused Iris to realize she had been holding her own breath.

  Iris breathed out and tried to control her pulse. She also realized that after she had twisted her body, her hand had fallen naturally in her lap. She also discovered that it was not lying there still. She was wearing jeans, which meant that there was nothing she could do more than run a hand over the jeans, which was exactly what she was doing. It was almost more frustrating than not touching herself at all.

  The dark-haired girl was much more fortunate with her other hand. Her partner was wearing a long skirt, but it was nothing for her to snake her hand up that leg: ankle, calf, thigh, all the while staring into her eyes, but also exposing to Iris gradually more of those lovely legs for her to enjoy from her hiding spot.

  The blonde girl’s eyes fluttered softly, telling Iris all she needed to know about where the hand ended up. Then she rolled her head back against the window, rocking back and forth as the dark-haired girl started to put more energy into her efforts. Iris could see her now mauling those breasts and she could only imagine what was going on under that dress. She did, too. Iris had a powerful imagination.

  This push of enthusiasm from the dark-haired girl was like a trigger to Iris’s own hand, running roughly over her jean-covered arousal. There was a certain pressure, a certain angle that was pushing the fabric in just the right way. Her other hand shot up to her chest, to mimic what that blonde girl must be feeling with hard purposeful squeezing.

  The blonde girl brought her head back up, trying to look into her lover’s eyes, but then Iris’s view of her face was blocked when her friend leaned in to kiss her again, hard and hot now, as her hands went into another gear. Iris could see her arm pistoning back and forth, driving her hand under that skirt.

  Then Iris saw arms grab around the dark-haired girl. They pulled tight and their kiss broke again. The blonde girl threw her head over her partner’s shoulder and it was pulled tight in blissful tension, marked with the beginnings of a glorious orgasm.

  The hug tightened, the eyes flashed open and her mouth went from an almost pained grimace to a silent open scream.

  Iris was amazed at how she was clearly so overcome, so gorgeous in her release, but utterly silent. Her own hand was working hard over the denim, finally bringing her up to her own modest bliss.

  Then there was a sound, but it wasn’t coming from the girls across the aisle.

  It was coming from Iris.

  The blonde girl was coming down, but her eyes shot around, then focused. They focused directly on the gap between chair backs that Iris was looking through.

  The eyes flashed in pleasure as a rosy flush glowed from her face and neck. She smiled wide, then winked.

  The dark-haired girl started to turn her head to look, but her friend put her hand to her chin and turned her head back to her, kissing her with grateful joy.

  As quietly as she could, Iris shifted back to her little comfortable coil.

  Her mind was working a mile a minute, but everything seemed too hazy. The relaxation of her mini-orgasm flowed through her and the thump thump thump of the tires rocked her to sleep again.

  3.

  She only woke up hours later when the bus rolled to a halt.

  The driver stood up and announced the end of the line and that everyone had to get out and get their luggage from storage.

  Iris slid her feet down to the floor. She was woozy, like she hadn’t slept well, and for a moment, she couldn’t account for it. Then in a flash her memory came back. She popped her head up over the backs of the chairs and looked around.

  There were two older men a few rows behind her. And there was one very stylishly dressed woman at the very front of the bus. She remembered the men, but couldn’t recall the woman getting on.

  But more at the top of her mind was that she didn’t see any trace of the two lovers. The seats where she saw them were empty, and there was no destination ticket above the seats like there was for everyone else. Did they get off in the night?

  Iris snorted out a loud half-laugh before choking it down into a much more polite coughing fit, causing the remaining passengers to look her way.

  Yeah, she supposed they did get off in the night. As least the blonde girl did, anyway.

  Iris went about putting her shoes on, gathering her things, and cleaning up the mess she had left with her travelling snacks. And in no time at all, she was off the bus and dragging her two pieces of luggage from the cargo bin.

  Just like the email explained, the bus left her at the parking lot of a ferry dock. What the email didn’t say was how empty everything would look. There was a fair-sized ship over there, but it looked like there were only four or five other people beside her that were going to take it.

  The map she had looked at showed that there was a good bit of what was basically ocean water to get over before they would be on the island where
Bright Hall was.

  Her mind was only partially aware of that memory because she was standing there outside the ferry building, just slack-jawed at the beauty of it all. She had mainly lived in big cities her whole life. She’d been camping and hiking, but this was a kind of remoteness she had never seen. In front of her was a flawless stretch of water, pushing out to the horizon. Behind her was a ridge of mountains tipped with the lightest cresting of white. She had seen mountains before, but these seemed different, like they were sealing her off from whatever had come before. She was immediately convinced that ahead, over the water, would be something different on a fundamental level.

  The office already had her name on the list and the frumpy but cheerful woman at the counter waved her over to offer her hot chocolate for the trip.

  “It’s early, dear, and we don’t get breakfast out this far, but we can get some warm chocolate in you and that’ll set you up until you get to Bright Hall. It’s still a bit chilly, and it’ll be colder on the water, so make sure and drink it all down and if you’ve got a sweater, it wouldn’t hurt to put that on, too.”

  The hot chocolate didn’t really wake her up. In fact, the warm sweet drink seemed to prolong her drowsy mind. She rolled her bags onto the ship and got a seat near one of the big windows where she watched the water as it was gradually lit by the sunrise behind them. The sheer wildness of it all was truly beautiful. She gripped the warm cup with both hands and sipped deeply as the engine of the boat rumbled to life and they left the land behind.

  Her mind was perfectly empty on the journey, just taking in the view. But eventually there was something long and dark on the horizon. The shape was veiled in a light mist, but there was no mistaking the island as they drew nearer. She saw what must be beaches to one side, then rough, sharply rising cliffs to the other. Then, almost out of nowhere came the hills, green, and thick with trees, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the mountains behind. Iris understood that they couldn’t be that high, but they certainly looked monumental after the long flat expanse of the water, and the gentle sloping land where the town was.

  She hadn’t really felt the chill until she got up to get her luggage. It wasn’t cold at all, but she knew she would need to get some better winter clothes before too long.

  She took her bags to the pier and walked away from the boat, and she looked back. The boat was there, but of course she could see nothing beyond it, nothing but water and the faintest hint of cloud-rimmed mountains on the mainland.

  The handful of passengers walked briskly off the boat and into the darkness without a word. The email had said that someone would be waiting for her, and sure enough, there were three figures at the end of the pier who were clearly waiting for someone.

  The first figure she saw was a curvy woman in a long navy coat. She was pale and freckled, and she had the most incredible kinky red hair. She smiled broadly, but seemed sad. And her eyes, even at a distance, Iris could tell she had been crying recently. Then Iris understood, or at least she thought that she did. There were two pieces of luggage at her feet. She must be leaving.

  The second figure was a man in a nicely tailored suit. Iris was struck by how... ordinary he seemed. He wasn’t tall or short, fat or skinny. He wasn’t stunningly handsome, but there was something strange about him.

  Finally, there was a tall thin woman wearing black. Iris almost stumbled as she got closer to her. She was gorgeous. Her skin was a deep dark brown, and there wasn’t a flaw on her. Unlike the other two, she was not smiling. She looked severe and dangerous somehow. Iris had a flash of uncomfortable insight. That would be the librarian she would work under.

  As Iris walked closer, she could feel a strange tension among the three people. There was a lot going on between them, and she couldn’t figure it out.

  But the redhead saw her out of the corner of her eyes and turned to greet her. She stepped forward with that lovely welcoming smile. And there was something in her eyes, almost a glittering that shone out more than recent tears should.

  “Iris?”

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Oh, wonderful. I am Kimberly, but I’m afraid I will miss out on your time here. They’ll fill you in I’m sure, but I need to get on the boat, or I’ll miss my first day of class.”

  She turned back to the man and other woman, and Iris could feel the tears that were getting ready to come out again. The three of them looked at each other for a brief moment, then Kimberly turned and pulled her luggage onto the boat.

  There was something very strange going on here.

  “Hello Iris. Welcome to the Bright Hall Academy. I’m Ben Lee, the Principal. And this is Veronica Rai, the librarian.”

  Iris tried not to let the look of anxiety at her prediction being correct show on her face.

  “Hello. It is both... I can... uh... it’s great to meet you both.”

  She shut up and shook Ben’s hand and then turned to Veronica, who hadn’t put her hand out to shake. There was a split second of even more awkwardness, then Ben moved forward to take her bags.

  “Oh, no, that’s okay. You don’t need to do that, Principal Lee.”

  “It’s fine, I need to exercise. And please, call me Ben. You might find Bright Hall a little strange at first. We have some traditional rules and, well, we can seem pretty old-fashioned sometimes. But Veronica and I talked about this, and since you are the first graduate student we’ve had here, we want everyone on campus to understand that you aren’t an undergraduate. You won’t have to wear the uniform, and of course the demerits won’t apply to you either.”

  “Demerits?” Iris was trying to focus on his words, which didn’t make a lot of sense, but she kept getting distracted, looking back and forth from Ben to Veronica.

  “Oh, it’s one of our old traditions. It’s not as bizarre as it sounds. You can read up on it in the handbook once you get settled.”

  Ben kept up a regular patter, talking casually and confidently about the school, but Iris felt gradually more detached from the conversation. There was something about the two of them that was simply hypnotic.

  Maybe it was the night she spent on the bus, or maybe it was because she just had been used to taking care of herself nightly, and her little voyeur experience on the bus, which she still wasn’t entirely sure actually happened, left her more frustrated than satisfied, but in any case, she felt extremely sensitive.

  Her jeans seemed a little too tight and her breasts seemed to strain against her bra. She was also feeling flush, not just in her face, but down her neck to her chest as well. She tried to force herself back into focusing on what Principal Lee was saying, but that almost seemed to make it worse.

  It certainly didn’t help that both Ben and Veronica were walking in front of her, guiding her to the campus. She still couldn’t tell much about Ben. She loved nice tight buns, but his loose pants kept that part of him hidden. She was more impressed with his shoulders. He wasn’t a big man, but the way his upper body filled out that jacket hinted at an impressive frame.

  But Veronica, she was a different matter entirely. She was sexy as all hell, and nothing, no kind of clothing could hide that. Iris found herself literally staring at her ass under her tight black pencil skirt. She was wearing high-ish heels, even for this walk, and the way each step shifted her thighs and butt was hypnotic. The light of the sunrise was coming in clear now and it cast the most fascinating shadows on her legs. Her black hair was in an updo, which lay bare the back of her neck, such flawless, smooth skin. Iris could imagine herself licking ever so lightly down her neck from her hair to...

  “So, what do you think? Gorgeous, isn’t it?”

  Iris shook her head in terror at having her mind read so clearly.

  Ben and Veronica looked back to her expectantly.

  They were in the foyer of a substantial building, with couches in the school color dark green and hardwood walls and decorations. It was a gorgeous room.

  “Ah... Gorgeous?�
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  “Ben, I think Iris is a little weary from her trip. Let’s get her into her room and give her some time.”

  “Oh, of course. I’m sorry we couldn’t get you in on a flight. The busses are pretty awful. Although some of our students swear by them. Something about the romance of the overnighter, I don’t know about that.”

  Veronica turned from Ben to Iris.

  “Iris. This is your keycard. We’ll get you a formal ID tomorrow. You’re in room 302. Your keycard will open the door of the room and the main door to the building. I will expect you at the library tomorrow morning at eight. The cafeteria is open already, but if you prefer, you can go into town. There are a couple diners that should work. If you have any questions, we can sort them out tomorrow. Get settled in. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  Ben started to add his advice, but Veronica put a hand on his shoulder and turned him toward the door.

  He twisted around to wave and give a final, “Welcome to Bright Hall!” Then they both walked away.

  Iris was pretty sure she heard Veronica whisper something to him in a scolding tone, something about ‘shutting it down?’

  But clearly Veronica was seeing things clearly, because Iris was surprisingly tired, with a good dose of horny there too, but mostly tired. A nap would be just perfect, then she could go exploring a little. Maybe a quick bit of play before the nap, just to take the edge off, too.

  She got herself unpacked and settled in the room. Maybe the activity had woken her up a bit more. She didn’t feel as drowsy as she did walking up from the boat. She thought about pulling up some quality reading material, but then realized that she was still pretty gross from her trip. So, shower first, then quality reading time.

  She hadn’t realized that she would have to share a bathroom and showers with the undergraduates. The dorms looked like they were pretty old, even if they had been clearly renovated recently, so on reflection it wasn’t that surprising that they wouldn’t have private bathrooms, but it still was going to be a hassle. Fortunately, most of the students weren’t on campus yet.