"Are you bringing a bathing suit?" Chloe asked as she struggled to find room in her suitcase for all her clothes and shoes.
Kayla wiped the sweat off her face as she took a break from stuffing her own suitcase. "Yeah cause I just wanna be prepared. It's Mississippi, Chloe!"
"I know, I know, but it's also a church community service trip! When would we go swimming?"
Kayla shrugged. "Better safe than sorry I guess."
The two girls finished packing their suitcases and sat down on the couch. The van would leave from the center of campus in an hour. Father Chris was adamant about everyone being there on-time so they could get a head start on the road to Mississippi. Their local Church, St. Mary's, sponsored the trip and twelve students from campus had signed up to partake.
If you never met Chloe and Kayla before, one would assume they had been best friends their entire life. They were both similar in personality and appearance. They shared a cheerful optimism and positive attitude about life. They were endearing, kind, and immediately built trust in those that they crossed paths with. It was a very suitable match that they were randomly assigned freshman roommates in College, having never met before. Their friendship blossomed instantaneously.
Although they were both outgoing and beautiful, they never really ran with the popular crowd. The College was small, and cliques formed easily. But Chloe and Kayla were more focused on their schooling and religion than to be bothered by going to parties and making more friends. They had each other and that was all that mattered.
Kayla had long blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was in excellent shape and ran every morning. Her lean legs and smooth thighs gave way to a petite waist. Her medium sized breasts seemed to fit her physique perfectly. She had the kind of eye-catching beauty that would result in many eyes glued to her when she first entered a room. She never seemed to mind and more often than not, didn't even notice. Kayla had only two boyfriends in her life. One of which when she was only fourteen and another through most of high school. They broke up the day after her eighteenth birthday and one day before she left for College.
The girls met at the library on the first day of school. They found each other as they were checking out what was sure to be their favorite place before heading back to the dorm buildings. After striking up a great conversation and walking back together, it could only be described as a freak coincidence that they were in fact dorm roommates as well.
"No way!" Chloe had said to Kayla as they realized that they were headed to the same exact room. The two embraced in what was already a great friendship.
Chloe's slim frame mirrored that of Kayla, although her breasts were considered large by most definitions of the word. But you would never tell as her modest choice in clothing normally concealed them. She had jet black hair, almost always tied in a ponytail or a bun. She never wore makeup and quite frankly didn't need to. She had a natural beauty to her that always attracted plenty of attention.
Although Kayla lacked meaningful experience with the opposite sex, she still had far more than Chloe. At eighteen years old, about to turn nineteen, she hadn't been with many boys. And when she was intimate, a handjob was about as far as she ever went. Chloe was much more focused on her studies, religion, and competitive dance, her favorite athletic activity.
"I like your toenail polish," said Kayla as she eyed Chloe's right foot, crossed over her left. A white sandal barely hung on. "I should have gotten a pedicure before we left."
Chloe wiggled her toes. "I did mine myself. But I wouldn't worry about it. It's a church trip."
"Still! There's some boys on the trip!"
"Kayla," Chloe narrowed her eyes at her. "You've met the boys that are going on this trip." They both laughed.
"Father Chris is kinda cute," said Kayla as they each laughed even harder at the mental imagery.
"Ok," Kayla stood up quickly. "Ready?"
The two girls grabbed their suitcases and headed for the center of campus.
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Nick was always a procrastinator. Growing up he waited until the last minute to clean his room. He waited until the last minute to apply for college. He never studied with more than one night to go before the exam. And now he was frantically cramming clothes in his suitcase for the community service trip to Mississippi. The van was set to leave in ten minutes and he just started packing.
He was not a religious person. Although raised Catholic, he despised going to church on Sunday, after-school bible studies, and anything that had to do with religion. It wasn't that he disagreed with the methodologies. It was instead the authoritative nature of the Catholic church that bothered him. Nick was always one to question things and would rarely do something just because he was told or that everyone else was doing it. It's the way he was wired and it led him away from his faith.
But one fateful night during his first week on campus as a freshman landed him in police protective custody also known as the "drunk tank." Nick was picked up at an off-campus party completely inebriated. The police felt it better to cool him off in custody then allow him to head back on his own.
Nick's punishment was two weeks of campus probation where he could not leave his dorm room except to eat or go to class followed by mandatory community service with the local church. That led him to St. Mary's where a trip to Mississippi was being planned at the end of the semester. He would have to take part to satisfy his requirement.
He managed to get his suitcase packed with four minutes to spare. Should be just enough time to dart across the campus plaza to where the van would be leaving. Nick remembered the priest guy running the show was very serious about everyone being on time. He couldn't afford to miss the van and then find his own way.
Nick came barreling down the dorm hallway, nearly running right into the cute security guard at the entrance. He smiled at her as he ran past "Sorry!" he called out. The security guard smiled back and how could she not? Nick was tall and handsome. He had wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a well-defined jawline. He stood six feet one inch and boasted a muscular frame from years of playing baseball. Throughout high school, he never had a girlfriend. But he dated a lot. That didn't slow down once he arrived at College as he ran with the popular crowd instantly. After his probation, he never lost steam. Partying every night, hooking up with girls, and having the time of his life.
And now he was running full speed to catch a church van to Mississippi. Funny how things work out that way.
"Wait! Wait!" Nick shouted as he darted across the grass to the gray van that was pulling away. "Stop!"
Chloe was the first to spot him. "Hey, someone's coming!" she called out to Father Chris. He hit the breaks and checked the rearview mirror to see Nick come flying around the van, slapping the metallic side with force. "There's always one," Father Chris said, annoyed as he put the van in Park and unlocked the door.
"Sorry about that!" Nick called out as he climbed up into the van. He was out of breath and panting. "Thought I was gonna lose you for a second there."
"You almost did, young man," Chris said as he pulled out and started the long journey to Mississippi.
"Whoa man! I am like super sweaty right now!" Nick said to no one in particular as he worked on getting situated. He crammed himself into the seat next to the wheel well. There was barely enough room for him and the two girls sitting on the bench with him. The van was silent as Nick panted loudly.
"You ok there?" Kayla giggled from the back. Nick turned to her and smiled. "I am, I am," he said. He waved to the whole van. "I'm Nick by the way. Hey everyone." Nick was the only one in the group who hadn't attended any of the pre-trip planning meetings. He emailed Father Chris with a different excuse each time. No one on the van had met Nick until now.
Chloe and Kayla looked at each other. Chloe shrugged and curved her mouth as if to say 'Not bad, huh?' The van of thirteen set out on the long seven hour ride from Tennessee to Mississippi.
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Father Chris pulled into the rest stop at almost exactly the halfway point on the journey. The students engaged in light chatter during the ride, mostly getting to know one another. That is, except for Nick who fell asleep no more than fifteen minutes into the ride. He spent the last two hours snoring comically loudly in front of everyone.
"Umm, excuse me," said the girl next to him as she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. Nick stirred awake and looked around. "Oh, umm, sorry about that," he said as he quickly wiped the drool from his mouth.
"Is this guy kidding?" the boy next to Kayla in the back said. She simply smiled and shrugged.
