Everybody is Sleeping

"I don't know. I guess I'll see." Chloe decided she didn't need to wash her hair. She could let it go another day. If she was going to have a conversation with Ben, better to do it downstairs in the living room, with her clothes on. The tile walls of the shower made her voice echo, and she had to talk louder to be heard over the sound of the shower. She reached for the tap and turned off the water.

"Ready for your towel?" Ben asked. Before she could answer, he stepped forward and pulled the towel free of the door. Chloe froze. Now only a thin pane of glass separated her and Ben, and she knew his view of her nude body was only obscured by the steam condensation on the glass. Her arms leapt up to her breasts, crossing over them.

A moment later, even that thin pane of glass was gone. Ben reached out and slid the glass door to the side. He leaned in, smiling cheerfully at Chloe while she stood in front of him, dripping and naked and gaping at him in shock. He seemed oblivious to her discomfort, and once again, his eyes seemed to remain on her face instead of dipping down towards her body. He offered her the towel and she clutched it with her hand, pulling it against her front. Ben immediately withdrew and returned to his spot, leaning against the sink.

The whole thing happened so quickly that Chloe struggled to make sense of it. Ben had just looked in at her while she was naked. She should be mortified, maybe even angry. Yet he hadn't leered at her, or even appeared to show any interest in her nudity. He wasn't acting intense or edgy. He had just given her the towel, that was all, and he did it like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

Maybe it was. Or, at least, maybe it was to someone used to living in an apartment with a co-ed bathroom and women like this Joanne girl who walked around naked like it was nothing.

Chloe held the towel against her body like an apron and peeked at Ben through her eyelashes. He slouched against the sink with his hands in his pockets, smiling at her, and he certainly didn't seem very threatening. Maybe that was why she didn't bother to wrap the towel around herself before she stepped out of the shower. She held it against her body with her forearm just over her breasts.

"What made you decide to go to college so far away from home?" Chloe asked, hoping her tone sounded casual. She purposely let the towel slip a little to the side, exposing her left breast, and her eyes flickered towards Ben to see if he had noticed. He was looking right at her and his manner hadn't changed at all. He didn't pay any special interest to her visible breast.

Maybe because he was in college. If Chloe had tried the same trick on the high school boys she knew, their eyes would have been fixed on her naked breast as if hypnotized by it. But Ben probably thought it was no big deal to see a bare boob. Joanne apparently walked around naked all the time.

"I've just always loved the United States..." Ben began, and Chloe felt thrilled that he continued to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. Now that he was speaking, she felt confident enough to look him in the eyes, and nodded politely while she let the towel slide away from the front of her body. She brought it up to her head and started to dry her long hair, acutely aware that she was standing naked in front of him.

She thought about the text she would write the next day to Marianne. Oh, Tony's cute friend Ben? Yeah, we had a long talk after everyone else went to bed. We even talked while I was in the shower. Yes, I was naked right in front of him but it was no big deal, he was a gentleman...

"...and the whole world is out there, right?" Ben finished and Chloe had barely heard a word he'd said. Fortunately, he saved her from having to think of a new question by asking one of his own. "Do you travel much?"

"Um... not as much as I'd like," Chloe said. "As far as other countries... I've been to Mexico and Canada, and we've gone to Europe a couple times... Italy, France..." She glanced in the mirror and was amazed at the image of her naked body standing beside this cute, fully clothed man. Was she really being this daring? She'd had her pubic area recently waxed and she could clearly see the line of her pussy in the mirror. It looked very exposed. "Um... Austria, England... Italy... oh, I already said Italy..."

If Ben noticed her distraction, he didn't comment on it. "I hope I can get you to New Zealand some day," he said. "Tony and I are going to have a blast over there."

"Maybe some day." She peeked down at her body, noting a few lingering drops on her skin, but for the most part she was dry. What now? Her eyes dropped to the sleep shirt and panties she'd left by the door. Get dressed in front of him? What would the mythical Joanne have done?

"Shall we go downstairs?" Ben asked. "I still feel wide awake. Maybe I can brew us some coffee, and we can continue our conversation?"

"Okay. That sounds good." She glanced again at her clothes on the floor.

"If you're not dry yet, just wrap the towel around yourself," Ben suggested. "You can get dressed later. Everybody's sleeping anyway."

"Right. Everybody's sleeping." Chloe knew she was already dry, but she did as he suggested and wrapped the light green towel around herself. It managed to cover her midsection from the top of her breasts down to six inches above her knees, leaving most of her legs bare. Ben opened the bathroom door and Chloe followed him into the hallway. She tiptoed as quietly as she could past her parent's closed door. Although she was technically decent, it would still be a little hard to explain to her mom and dad why she was only wearing a towel.

Chloe flicked the light switch at the bottom of the stairs to light up the hallway. "Forward, then right," she told Ben. "The kitchen switch is to the left of the door. I'll wait here to turn off the hall light."

"Right." Ben walked ahead. When the kitchen light went on, Chloe turned off the hall light. She followed Ben into the kitchen.

"Now, I'll be happy to make the coffee, but I'll need you to tell me where everything is," Ben said.

Chloe smiled. "Sure. The coffee machine is that silver thing by the microwave. My dad keeps the coffee in the cabinet below it."

"My, my!" Ben nodded in approval. "Not just a simple coffee pot, but an espresso machine! Would you like me to make you a cappuccino?"

"Okay... but I don't know how to work it, to be honest."

"No worries. I've worked as a barista before. This is all very familiar to me." He waved at her. "Have a seat. It'll just be a few minutes."

Chloe pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat down, carefully holding the towel so that it folded underneath her when she sat. Then a reckless impulse seized her, and before she could think about what she was doing, she undid the towel and pulled it open, letting it fall away from her and drape over the chair. Her heart bounced in her chest like a rabbit as she waited for Ben to look her way and notice she was naked again.

Ben crouched in front of the cabinet, moving items around on the shelf. He pulled out a canister of coffee beans and set it on the counter. Satisfied, he stood and examined the espresso machine, fiddling with the levers and buttons. He looked over his shoulder for a moment, gazing at her, and Chloe held her breath, waiting to hear what he would say. But he just gave her an appreciative smile, then turned back to the machine.

"Do you drink coffee regularly?" he asked.

"Not regularly. Every now and then." Chloe glanced down at her body, trying to see herself from his perspective. She felt pleased that he hadn't made a comment about her nudity. So they would continue their conversation, sipping cappuccino at the kitchen table, while she remained naked? The thought of it excited her tremendously. "I never even had a cup before this last year. But there's a coffee shop we sometimes go to, it's open 24 hours, and I started getting coffee there. Also, Starbucks... we go there sometimes..."

"Yeah? I've really gotten addicted to coffee this last year. Late at night, trying to get a paper done, I can go through five or six cups, easy." Ben pressed a button and the machine started making a loud grinding noise.

Chloe tensed, listening for sounds from above. Would the noise wake up her family? Ben saw her nervousness and chuckled. He turned off the grinding. "Don't worry," he said. "It's not really that loud. No one's going to wake up."

"Sorry..."

"It's all good. Just relax." He pressed a button on the machine, and the sound of water pouring came from somewhere inside it. "Where's your coffee cups?"

"Up on those shelves over there." Chloe pointed.

"Do you mind getting us two cups? The bigger, the better."

"Okay." Chloe stood and walked over to the shelf. She couldn't see Ben but she felt like he watched her as she stretched up and pulled down two large mugs. She carried them over to him.

"Thanks." He smiled at her. He was doing something with milk. Chloe returned to her seat.

"How long were you a barista?" she asked.

"Six months. Just before college." He filled the two mugs and carefully carried them to the table. He put one in front of Chloe and the other on the table across from her.

"Oh! That's so cute!" Chloe said, seeing the heart he had made in the foam on the top of her drink.

"A little trick I learned. I can do a few other things, too. Like a cat. But the heart is pretty easy."

Chloe pressed her hand against the side of the mug. "It's hot..."

"Give it a minute. It'll cool down."

As they waited for their drinks to cool, they chatted about college, how Ben's life had changed when he went to Penn State, how her own life would change when she went to Washington. Ben braved his drink first, taking a long sip and grimacing slightly in pain. "Still hot," he said. "But I like it when it's still a little too hot."

Chloe waited longer for hers. When she finally took a sip, she nodded her head. "It's very good!"

"Yeah, sometimes I know what I'm doing." Ben grinned.

Chloe brought her drink up with both hands and sipped it, peeking at Ben through her eyelashes. She could feel her stiff nipples brushing her arms, and idly wondered what it would feel like to press the warm mug against her left breast. She thought about how she could describe this to Marianne, and knew she probably wouldn't. It would just be too hard for Marianne to understand how she'd ended up sitting in her kitchen naked with a boy she'd just met, sipping cappuccino.

Chloe peeked again at Ben. Maybe she could explain it by showing Marianne his picture. "Look at this face..." she would text. "All he did was smile at me and suddenly I realized I was taking off all my clothes..."

"What are you smiling about?" Ben asked.

"Oh..." Chloe sat down her mug. "I was just imagining what my friends are going to say when I tell them you and I drank coffee together and I still hadn't gotten dressed from my shower."

"Do you tell your friends everything?"

"Almost everything..." Chloe tapped her dark red fingernails against the coffee mug.

Ben didn't speak for a moment, gazing at her with a thoughtful smile on his face. Abruptly, he stood. "Man! This cappuccino is making me warm! Is it making you warm?"

"No..." Chloe giggled. "But you're wearing warmer clothes than I am."

"Do you mind if I open the front door for a minute? Let in some cool air?" Ben was already walking in that direction.

"Okay..." The kitchen was adjacent to the foyer so Chloe could still see him as he unlocked the top lock and pulled the front door open. She was at the wrong angle to see outside, or for anyone outside to see her, nevertheless she felt nervous to have the door gaping open like that. Ben leaned against the door jamb, looking outside.

"I think it's a full moon," he remarked.

"Really? Yeah, I noticed it was almost full a few days ago."

"This is nice. There's a cool breeze, it's really refreshing." Ben closed his eyes, as if savoring the feel of the night air for a moment. He opened his eyes and looked at Chloe. "Come on over, take a look at this moon."

"I can't!"

"Sure you can. What, are you worried you'll be seen? It's past one on a Wednesday night. Everybody's asleep, I promise you." He waved his hand towards the outside. "Plus, you have that tall hedge."

"It's not that tall..."

"Come on.. Just peek out."

Chloe took another sip of her drink, considering. Then, shrugging her shoulders, she set the mug down and pushed out her chair. She paused for a moment to glance down at the towel on her chair before she left it behind and tiptoed naked towards the front door.

She hesitated next to the door, looking at Ben nervously. He looked outside, his eyes scanning left to right. "It's fine. No one's out there. I told you, everybody's asleep." He nodded to her in reassurance.

Chloe timidly stepped out in front of the doorway. The porch light was on, and she knew she was clearly lit. Outside, the moon was a bright circle in a cloudless sky. The street in front of the house looked dark and empty, dimly lit by the street light on the corner. Across the street, the two houses that lay opposite their house showed dark windows. A hedge separated the front yard from the street, but it really wasn't that high, only a little higher than her waist. She could see the street clearly, and that meant anyone out there could see her.

But Ben was right. It was late, and the world outside seemed silent and empty. Chloe turned sideways to put her back against the opposite door jamb, leaning against it as Ben did. She looked up at the sky and the twinkling stars, feeling the outside air on her skin.

"It's a nice night," Ben said. "Not like a hot summer night, but not cold either. Comfortable."

"Yeah."

"You're not cold?"

"Mmm. No. I'm fine."

"Was I right? Beautiful moon, right?"

"Yeah. It's huge." Chloe looked up at the moon, which bathed the world outside in a dim glow. "It's definitely full."

Ben didn't speak for a moment. Chloe could hear the chirp of crickets, and far away the sound of a car driving. She thought she would take a quick look then return to the kitchen table, but standing there, she found that she wasn't that worried about being seen. It really did seem silent outside, as if they were the only ones in the neighborhood.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ben asked.

Chloe felt a panicky rush pass through her body, her thighs tightening involuntarily. She already knew his answer, but she asked the question anyway: "Like this?"

"Yeah."

The little rabbit in her heart was bouncing around again. "Everybody's sleeping," she murmured.

"Right. Everybody's sleeping."

Chloe looked up at Ben. He stood barely two feet away from her. If he wanted to, he could easily reach out and touch her. He could run his fingers over her breasts, down her body, between her legs. He could feel how turned on she already was.

"Okay," she said, and felt the panicky rush again. She could barely breath.

Ben was silent for a moment, gazing at her. "I'll be right back," he said, and walked back towards the kitchen.

Chloe stood in the middle of the doorway, facing out, her hands at her sides, her legs slightly parted. The breeze from outside traced her skin, and she felt goosebumps on her arms. Her nipples were hard pebbles, but she wasn't sure if that was from the cold or from anticipation.

Ben returned, holding something black in his hand. Chloe couldn't tell what it was until Ben started to fasten it around her neck. She let out an involuntary moan. Petey's old collar and leash. They had been hanging on a peg in the kitchen. Now Ben was putting the collar around her neck, and he had the end of the leash in his hand.

So not only would she be walking with Ben naked, but he would also be leading her around on a leash. Chloe felt her body trembling with nervous energy. She couldn't believe how turned on she was.

"Let's go," he said, and he stepped out the door onto the front porch. Chloe's eyes darted from one side of the empty street to the other. She didn't move until Ben gently tugged on the leash, and then she took a step out the door, another step to stand beside him on the porch. Ben closed the door.

"It's a beautiful night for a walk," he said.

"Yes..."

"Don't be nervous," Ben said. "I'll just walk you down the block and back, okay?"

"Okay." Her voice came out as a whisper.

"You look amazing, you know. You're very beautiful."

"Thanks."

"Shall we?" Ben started down the front steps. Chloe followed him as they walked down the path to the front gate and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

They paused, and Chloe looked up and down the street. The house was on a cul-de-sac, with the street light on the corner to their left. At the end of the cul-de-sac to their right, the three houses arranged in a semi-circle were only illuminated by the three lights above their front doors. Parked cars made shadowy shapes on the curb, like dormant shells. Crickets chirped from every direction, and a breeze stirred the upper branches of the trees, but otherwise everything was silent.

"Which way?" Chloe asked. She crossed one foot in front of the other, pressing her thighs together, feeling how wet she was.

"This way." Ben tugged on the leash, pulling her towards the street light. Chloe peeked down at her body as she walked, watching her breasts become more illuminated with every step closer to the glowing orange light. She reached up and touched her nipple, wondering if the tip had ever felt so rigid and sensitive before.

"It's so different around here at night..." she murmured. "So quiet..."

"Have you ever walked around this late before?"

"Yeah... I did it just a few days ago actually. Me and my friend Marianne. We smoked some pot watching movies and then we got restless and we walked around the neighborhood. Not that far... just a circle around a few blocks..."

"Did you see anybody else?"

"No..."

"What day was it? The weekend?"

"Yeah... Sunday night... I guess that's still the weekend?"

"Did any cars drive by?"

"Um... I don't remember... I can't remember any..."

Ben nodded. "I know this kind of neighborhood. Big houses, big yards, all set apart from each other. Everyone works during the day, and this time of night they're all asleep. If you go outside, it's like you have the whole neighborhood to yourself." They reached the corner and paused under the street light.

Now Chloe had a cross street to look up and down, and she peered out into the darkness, her night vision hindered by the glow of the street light. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that no one was out there, maybe lurking somewhere in the shadows. Whoever it was, they definitely had a clear view of her, her naked body bathed in the glow of the street light. Did they know her? Did they recognize her?

Ben started walking down the cross street, tugging on the leash, and Chloe silently followed as he led her further and further away from her home. As they moved away from the street light, Chloe's eyes adjusted to the darkness again, and she could see the sidewalk stretching into the distance, on both sides of the street. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she noticed someone tall standing in front of a house two blocks away, looking right at them. But a few steps later, she realized it was just a trick of the light, a mailbox with a small tree behind it. Just her imagination.

"How far should we walk?" she asked.

"Just a little further. Are you feeling nervous?"

"Yes."

"It's all right. No one's going to... oops!"

Two blocks away, they could see a change in the light, a beam from the left illuminating the trees. A moment later, they saw the headlights of a car pull up to the intersection.