There was a large, maybe eight-foot-wide opening in the wall to the large, communal shower room, with hooks on the walls on both sides, mostly occupied with students clothes and belongings of all colors hanging. As she was able to move her head past the wall and look in, the large 12' by 12' tiled room had four showerheads on each along its three walls.
The vibrant sound of loud showers spraying hit her ears instantly, along with the melodic sounds of college women laughing and chatting echoing off the tile walls, and the unbelievable sight of the moving, wet and soapy bodies of almost a dozen female students standing in the shower room under nearly every shower head along three walls. The starkness struck her that every single one of the women in there was completely nude. Other than the occasional ankle bracelet, jewelry, wristwatch, a couple of pairs of flip flops, and one or two knee and ankle braces, the unadulterated nakedness was stunning. Could she really strip naked and just go in there and shower amongst them?
Any thought that she might get away with wearing a bathing suit immediately became unrealistic. She remembered when she had been bullied long ago. Even though this is college and you would think women are more mature, some of her past trauma remained. She immediately sensed the camaraderie of the group. It seemed like these women all knew each other. She didn't want to be singled, out, or commented on for being the only one wearing something. The thought entered her mind that if the women are being really immature and rowdy, she may even get stripped sorority-prank-style by them, which would be mortifyingly embarrassing, although admittedly unlikely.
Rather, in the spur of the moment, she said to herself, "I'll just jump in real quick and grab a shower and be in and out." She never showered here before and dreaded the thought, but "whatever", she reasoned. Hopefully, nobody would know how nervous she was. She immediately stepped out of her sneakers, and peeled off her sweaty socks. She wished she hadn't even put them on after yoga, but it felt great to take them off as she placed them inside her sneakers.
As she peeled her tights off, and placed them on a spot on the long wooden bench, the open air caught her by surprise. Her sweaty skin felt the breeze, and she had to make sure it was okay by looking around. Everyone else was doing their own thing, not even noticing her. So, she continued.
Lauren calmingly told herself "no big deal" as off came her tight yoga top, soon also dropped onto the bench. She checked her hair with her hand, which was tightly back and in a pony tail, secured by a simple, pink rubber band hair tie. The carpet felt strange under her bare feet, but she kept going. Soon, panties between her thumbs, deep breath, and the open air hit her yoga-sweaty butt as she peeled them down. She almost let out a soft gasp but was too self-conscious to, still processing the sensations of being naked from the waist down, but going for it nonetheless to avoid appearing hesitant. She instinctively kept her arms close to her breasts for cover, but nobody even noticed her as everyone was doing their own thing, dressing and undressing in the crowd around her.
Still hunched over, she touched her towel in her bag as if to grab it, but noticed every hook on the walls outside the shower room entrance was now occupied, except for one that a naked woman next to her was just hanging her towel upon at that moment. A couple of hooks had several speedo one-piece swimsuits on them each, letting her know swim team practice just got out.
She was shy and nervous, but told herself it would be a quick shower and she'd be in and out. As she braced herself for the awkwardness, stood upright, and with a deep breath began to step from the bench across the short-fibered, firm, blue carpet the several steps to the shower room entrance, sans towel, sans everything.
Taking her first steps newly-naked toward the shower room opening, she felt completely raw walking across the carpet. The open air hit her body all over. She continued to tell herself it's the women's, and she doesn't stand out to be noticed at all. Everyone was doing some measure of the same thing, coming or going.
She braced herself to step through the entrance from the carpet onto the tile floor of the shower room, and proceeded. As she took her first step in, her soft bare foot, then the other, stepped onto the smooth, wet shower room tile floor. The wet tile surface beneath her foot felt strikingly different than the carpet, as she realized walking nude on it would be a whole new level of nakedness.
