You can do this, I told myself for the tenth or twelfth time today.

For about half the day now I had debated on finally sucking it up and taking a shower. In no way did I like the idea of a shared showering unit but I recognized I didn't have a choice. How I'd forgotten it was part of dorm life in the first place, I have no idea. It was something I had purposefully avoided during high school but in retrospect, a whole lot of anxiety could have been avoided if I hadn't.

I now had to face the communal showers.

"It won't be that bad. You can go in your robe, shower super quick and then come straight back," I told myself in the mirror in a forced confident tone. "Don't be a little bitch."

My confidence in the plan was bleak due to one very specific reason, Clark. I either had to become comfortable being naked around other girls in the building or be okay with the possibility that Clark could walk in at any given moment and see all my assents.

Both options made me feel severely nauseous but I knew one had to be chosen.

With a grumble, I threw open my closet and snatched a set of clean clothes to place on my bed. At the very least I could be prepared to dress quickly when I came back. If I was able to dress in a minute flat the risk would be significantly lower. Before I changed my mind in a swift thirty-second, I removed my clothing and wrapped my robe around myself, securing it with a tightly knotted bow.

Air entered my lungs in a slow drawl as I took a moment to mentally prepare myself for the walk down the hallway. It felt like I was about to enter a room after a fight with my mother. "Everyone here does it."

On a final exhale I took my shower caddy by the handle and flew out of the room. 

Not many students loitered in the hallway, something I silently thanked the powers that be for. Despite my actions being part of regular dorm life I still felt extremely exposed with only my robe between onlookers and my naked body. All the possibilities floated through my mind as I ducked my head and scurried towards the showers. What if I tripped and flashed whoever was in the hallway? What if it was an extremely attractive guy? What if he thought since he saw my goodies he could have more?

My cheeks heated to a boil at the thought, followed by a tinge of denial when the guy's face looked an awful lot like Clark's. I was officially crazy and quite possibly obsessed with a guy I wanted nothing to do with. The thought should have angered me but by the time I stepped into a shower stall and disrobed I felt more frustrated than furious.

Clark ran through my mind on a daily basis. I spent the better part of an hour last night fighting off any and all thoughts pertaining to him. Being attracted to him wasn't an option but I couldn't shake the sensation I felt race through my body when his skin touched mine. His grip had been both gentle and commanding like he trusted I would follow him anywhere. 

Part of me wasn't sure that assumption was wrong anymore.

The water sputtered to life and soon deliciously warm water cascaded over my frame. I imagined my problems trickling off my body and sliding down the drain, gone forever. Life had always been unfair though. Clark wasn't going anywhere and neither was I. Somehow we needed to coexist without me ending up on the Five O'Clock news or succumbing to the inner desires I fought so desperately against.

I needed to find out how in the world I could pull it off.

Unfortunately, everything seemed impossible at this point. When in the same room the air slowly electrified, took on a weird charge that left my body covered in goosebumps. Never in my life had I been in this type of situation. Was I the only one that felt it or could he too? Something hung in the air between us, something that I was positive neither of us wanted. Did he have these same thoughts I struggled with? I doubted it. Clark seemed to always be level headed and relaxed. To the point it was agitating. 

Snapping myself out of thought I quickly finished taking my shower. As much as I wanted to stand there in the hot liquid I knew there were others that needed to wash. A small smile played on my lips as I secured my robe around myself. I had been so worried about Clark that I successfully finished my first trip to the communal showers. It hadn't been as traumatizing as I thought. 

Yeah, but you still have to get dressed, and if Clark- I cut the thought off there.

The voice wasn't wrong, I still had to get dressed but that didn't mean I had to listen. With hurried footsteps, I retrieved my caddy and braved the hallway with a little more confidence than before. To my great pleasure, an empty dorm room greeted my gaze as the door swung open. A relieved sigh left my lips. I hadn't seen Clark in the halls but that didn't mean he wasn't on his way up. Quickly I disrobed and began to dry myself with a towel as my heart pounded in my chest. 

It would surely explode if he showed up at this point.

Dramatic as always Nick! haha