Infected

Chapter 1

3 YEARS LATER

"Liv!" my voice echoes through our townhouse.

Drawers slam open and shut as I frantically search for my deodorant. It wasn't in it's usual place which meant an unwelcomed visitor had moved my things for the countless time. The piles of boxers in the hamper told me that it was a guy, and they had stepped past an obvious boundary.

My cousin opens her bedroom door looking down at me like I  was being the annoying one, her brown hair is piled into a messy bun on top of her heart shaped face and she has sleep marks along her soft cheek. It was 8 in the morning, a time that I never saw her willingly wake up unless it was for a date.

She rubs her eyes, wiping away the sleep that she'd been in moments ago and yawns, "Elle I've told you before that yelling isn't necessary when I'm right next door."

"Well, when you sleep like a rock I have to use deadly measures." I huff at her and then gesture to the drawer that I'd just pulled open. "Where is my deodorant? Or my toothbrush for that matter?"

Liv pinches the bridge of her nose decoding what I was saying like it was in another language. She must still be hungover from the trip she'd just returned from at the beach.

"Your deodorant is in my room. Rucker took your toothbrush last night, he said he'd replace it."

I roll my eyes and stand up, clipping my ID onto the pocket of my scrubs. I was going to be late at this point if I didn't just accept that my toothbrush was gone forever.

"Then give me your toothbrush and my deodorant."

I go with her to her bedroom; she turns on a lamp to look through her bag. I walk over piles of dirty laundry wondering how she could've navigated this in the dark moments ago and I catch site of several shirts that definitely weren't hers. For a moment I'm tempted to ask her about my observation, but her abrupt awakening deterred me. She tosses me both items and flops back into bed covering her head to drown out the sound of me closing her door.

Rucker, a name that only a psychopath would give their child. The current fling, a term that I use lightly, of my cousin had ran away with a lot of my things lately, mainly toiletries that were essential for me to get ready for my job. I'd only met him face to face once in the past few weeks when Liv had been sneaking him in at night against my wishes. our first impressions didn't go that well, with him standing stark naked at my fridge rooting through it like a raccoon. The only good aspect was she never dared to have him here during the day, knowing that my lunch sometimes took place at our house.

I finish getting ready, muttering under my breath about how I needed to stop letting her do whatever she wanted.

My reflection in the mirror wasn't as confident in this plan to confront my cousin as I hoped it'd be so I decide to ditch the idea. My green eyes are tired yet irritated, I close them and take a few deep breaths making an attempt to center myself.

"She's your cousin. She doesn't have anyone else. You don't have anyone else. You need her and she needs you. Toothbrushes are the cheapest thing you can buy." I repeat the mantra as a rubber band ties around my dark curls, securing the long coils into a thick ponytail. The New England weather was still in full heat in the middle of July so the effort it normally took to maintain my hair was useless for a few more months.

I turn off the light and check my phone. Liv's seige of my belongings hadn't taken as long as I'd thought leaving enough time for me to make some coffee before I needed to be out the door.

I stomp down the stairs and put on a zip up hoodie from the coatrack by the door. I turn on the coffee pot in our kitchen and begin the motions of brewing a fresh batch. Every time I passed the clock my eyes couldn't help but watch the hand tick away. There was nothing to make me think that I was late but the nervous habit was comforting.