Mackenzie fights her instincts and finds the obvious... and something really bad

Mackenzie wanted to just run away, but fought valiantly against her first instinct. If this was supposedly going to be a humiliation-free shower and therefore a humiliation-free entire two-week vacation, Mackenzie figured she shouldn't have any problem checking out what the noise in the hallway is.

Mackenzie gave one forlorn look at her suitcase packed full of all her clean clothing and another forlorn look at the trash packed full of the dirty outfit she was wearing just one minute prior. Then she apprehensively tiptoed toward the exit, deciding to investigate instead of following her gut.

I've been through way worse than this a million times, Mackenzie thought to herself. I just take a quick little peek to see what's going on, then high-tail it back to the shower. NO running and slipping out into the hallway or getting anything snagged on the doorknob or any bad stuff like that under ANY circumstances!

Mackenzie cautiously approached the bathroom door in just her underwear and a towel, and carefully opened it less than an inch so she could peek out.

Bvvvvvvvvvvv, Bvvvvvvvvvvvv, Bvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv!

It was just a staff member cleaning Mackenzie's puke off the carpet a few steps away from the bathroom.

"Duhhh..." whispered Mackenzie to herself, slapping her forehead.

In truth, Mackenzie knew what the noise was before she came over. It was fairly obvious after all. She told herself to go check it out to "be brave", but really she just wanted an excuse to prolong things before she had to take off her underwear. Somewhere deep down, this was just another subconscious ploy to avoid having to go through with the shower test, but she wasn't about to admit that to herself. She was still relatively clothed at the moment, but heading back to the shower meant stripping all the way in a fairly public place.

Mackenzie looked at herself. Right now, to the outside observer, her bra straps wouldn't look any different than a bikini top and her modestly-sized towel also covered everything you'd want covered. Anyone who saw her would probably just think she was an average cruise ship passenger who just got out of the pool or the shower, but that fact didn't ease Mackenzie's anxiety as much as she hoped it would.

Well, I did technically just get out of the shower actually... Mackenzie nervously told herself with a tiny "Heh." Maybe I should just put on my bathing suit... It'd certainly make the shower less risky.

Mackenzie turned around to head back to her shower and do just that, but stopped when she heard voices. The worker outside switched to some kind of spray mode on his machine, which was much quieter than the vacuum mode and allowed Mackenzie to make out some chatter from down the hall. She strained her ears to hear the distant voices through the crack, but didn't need to try very hard as the voices got closer and closer.

"Pool's closed for inclement weather, my ass! So what if there's a measly little storm outside? Ugh, this cruise is soooo mid!" the familiar voice of Harmony grumbled. She sounded pretty far off.

The weather did seem to be picking up. The boat was swaying a lot more than a few minutes prior, but that fact immediately left Mackenzie's mind when she heard what Heather had to say next.

"You guys think our best pal Mackenzie's still in there? Heehee! Maybe she's done prepping and now she's really gonna streak after all..." said Heather, who now sounded even closer to the bathroom.

Mackenzie let out a little surprised squawk, as if she were invisible before and suddenly someone put on infrared goggles. She didn't expect anyone to actually find her! Not that walking around the bathroom in a towel and your underwear was against the rules, but it'd certainly be a chore to explain to the average person... and much harder to explain to this trio right after they just accused her of streaking!!

Oh god... if they find me out here dressed like THIS?!... Mackenzie screamed in her own mind. If they catch me waltzing around the middle of the bathroom in my undies after that last conversation, I'm toast! She knew she wouldn't be talking her way out of the streaking allegations this time.

Mackenzie's heart rate suddenly skyrocketed and she scrambled to get away from the door. Her bare feet had little traction to begin with, and she unfortunately made her getaway right through a puddle of soapy water leftover from when she splashed her clothes in the sink a few minutes prior.

After running in place for a few seconds like a cartoon character, Mackenzie finally lost her balance and flopped hard right onto her ass in the small soapy puddle. Her momentum slowly spun her around toward the door like she was rotating on a lazy susan before she ultimately stopped facing directly at the door. The landing jolted the towel clean off of Mackenzie's body, pooling onto the floor around her. She sat on the bathroom floor in just her bra and panties, barely a couple feet from where the door would be opening any second now. Mackenzie had no traction on the slippery floor, and therefore had no way to stand up very swiftly at all.

So, sitting with her legs slightly spread and arms behind her on the ground supporting her upright torso, Mackenzie just winced as she awaited her fate. The jig was up and her vacation, as she feared, was officially heading in very embarrassing directions. Sure, she was just in her underwear right now, but these girls surely wouldn't let her live it down and would probably pressure her to expose even more.