"Oh my God," I muttered to Kelly as we crested the hill, an ocean of multi-colored tents spread out in front of us. "How in the hell are we going to find them?"
Kelly turned to me, wide eyed in despair and shrugged. We had waited in traffic for hours to get in. The guys, my brother Brad and his friend Matt, had jumped out of the car as soon as we cleared security and hoofed it out, carrying our tents and their backpacks, hoping to secure a somewhat decent spot. Kelly and I sat in the long, slow traffic jam to finally park and then waddled to the camping area, weighted down by our packs. The camping area for the music festival was huge, thousands of campers there already. Finding them took most of the afternoon, the sun starting to set before Brad found us at the showers and led us to our campsite. Naturally, he took Kelly's backpack and let me struggle on my own behind the happy couple. Our place was just another pair of tents in a long line of tents, we were only one row away from the forest.
Tickets had been a gift from my parents to Brad and me. I gathered there had been no small amount of arm twisting to get Brad to bring me along. When Liz had to opt out, Brad got to bring one of his friends from college. Kelly and I were fresh out of high school, Brad and Matt were entering their junior year. Matt was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, broad shoulders, easy smile, he was almost out of my league. I didn't think much of it though, I was there for the festival and not to find a boyfriend. Brad clearly had his eye on my bestie Kelly, and she sure didn't seem to mind. Anyway, I was super excited about the festival. We put together dinner and waited for the guys to return, as they had gone to the car to get the beer, returning well after sundown and grumpy at me for having the location wrong. We got blasted that night and went to bed, the girls in one tent and the guys in the other.
The festival was huge, with four enormous stages, so many bands. We lost ourselves in the music, dancing in the sun, singing. Kelly and Brad split off, Matt sticking around with me. I told him I'd be fine, but we ended up hanging out together. We looked at the numerous shops selling all kinds of gear. Dinner time, he ignored my protests and paid for my meal. Matt was... nice. Real nice. Definitely easy on the eyes, about a head taller than me with broad shoulders and tight ass. The light shows at night were fantastic, I was lost in my own haze of happiness. The crowd pressed forward and I ended up wrapped in his arms. It felt great, so nice to feel the warm skin of another as I let the music take me over. I was being naughty, grinding my ass into him, feeling his bulge. His arms enveloping me, his hands stroking my bare belly during the slow songs. It was amazing. Finally the last show ended and we wandered back to find our tents in the sea of darkness. A lot of people were still hanging around, but we headed to our tents. Brad and Kelly were nowhere to be found.
"I'm going to take a shower," Matt announced as we reached our tents.
"Man, that sounds great, I'd love to join you," I sighed, before realizing what I had said. "I... I mean, I would love to take a shower too. I mean... not with you... I mean." The chill vibe just vanished as I shoved my foot further into my mouth, a blush burning on my face. Thank God it was too dark to see.
"You're cute," he chuckled. "Come on, grab your stuff and let's go."
I paused for a moment, wondering if I had just agreed to shower with him. Not that it would be so bad, he was awful cute, but that's not what I was intending. I grabbed my stuff anyway and followed him.
"I found out they clean the showers in the afternoon, so they should not only be deserted, they should be clean and have hot water," he explained while we walked.
As we approached the showers, I noticed they were completely deserted. A random thought entered my mind. I would be alone, naked, in the deserted shower building in a remote area. What if someone else was lurking? Matt dropped me off on the ladies' side and I peeked in, seeing no one. It just felt a little creepy. Matt seemed to sense my unease and offered to wait outside for me. I fluttered a bit, feeling like a child, but then happily agreed. I took the fastest shower in the history of girldom and emerged feeling fresh and happy, rousting Matt. Outside the men's showers, I waited as he took his shower. Silent minutes ticked by and fear began to creep into my mind. If anything, I was now more exposed, just a girl in shorts and a tank top sitting under a lightbulb all by herself. I considered moving out of the light, but that would put me in the darkness. I couldn't see out at all, the night closed in tight around the light of the bulb. My imagination went into overdrive. Every sound was some monster, creeping closer. Then it finally happened, male voices. Drunk. Boisterous. Getting closer. Closer still. I lost my nerve and dashed into the shower building.
"Matt, hey, can I stay in here?"
The shower curtain immediately snapped back and his head popped out.
"Katie, you okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, um... I... like," I stuttered. So he was naked behind that curtain, right? The blush was back with a vengeance as I ripped my eyes back up to his.
"Something going on out there?"
I shrugged, and then my mind caught up with what my eyes were seeing. The men's showers were different from the women's, which had a shower stall and their own little changing stall. Here, there was a hook for your towel, and the guys changed out in the open by the bench, where Matt's clothes were.
"I... I'll turn around," I said and faced away, just in time to see the three guys enter.
Suddenly I was standing there facing three puzzled strangers.
"Hey."
"Hi," I chirped.
Matt's head popped back out. "Hey, we'll just be a minute, I'm almost done."
"Hey man, she can...," one guy started before the other guy smacked him.
I felt like I was twelve, a kid caught where she wasn't supposed to be."
"I'll just look this way," I offered.
"It's cool with me if you wanna..."
"Bro, chill," Matt snapped.
"Cool, cool."
They filed past me as I stared at the wall. Behind me I could hear them undressing. Three guys. Were they looking at my ass? I started to move out of the door, but then figured they would think I was peeking, so I stayed. Shower curtains opening, showers coming on. Naked guys in the showers behind me. What the hell was I doing the men's showers?
"Hey, you ready?" I jumped as Matt startled me from behind.
"Yeah, totally," I squeaked and scampered out of the door.
The security golf cart was coming around, and I was partially blinded by the darkness, so naturally I tripped and fell. Matt helped me up and I gathered my things, the golf cart suddenly upon us. A spotlight lit me up as I straightened.
"You okay, miss?" a woman's voice asked from the side of the light.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I stuttered. The light continued to shine on me, fortunately not in my eyes.
A moment passed. "You sure you're okay?" she asked again.
"I'm fine, I just tripped. I'm fine."
"Okay, you two be careful walking back."