Obsessive

01

Molly

"I knew that girl,"

We all look up at Paige's little sister. She stares blankly at the television. Amber, Paige's mother, immediately stands from the dining table and scurried over to her youngest daughter.

"Paul, turn that shit off. I told you not to watch it around the kids" she snaps at her husband. "The Doe Killer is on the loose and these girls should know it! He's capable of killing and he doesn't care who knows it or who it is"

Paige looks at me and rolls her eyes. I laugh lightly before returning to my cereal. But an odd feeling stirs in my chest. This guy has been on the loose for months and police haven't even gotten a sliver close to finding him. It makes me wonder how many daughters and sons and mothers and fathers are going to have to die before they get their shit together.

"Dad, I think we know that there is a madman on the loose. Girl on the TV? That's Mary Grace." Paige informs. "Too close to home for my liking" I add. Paul snorts and turns to me. "Amen."

The TV gets turned off and breakfast continues as usual. The Anderson household as always been like a second home to me. My mom and Amber are best friends and have grown up together. Paige and I are not best friends. We have our own lives and have different friends but we still hang out and stay friendly. So when my mom goes away on trips for business or to see her foreign lover, I stay here. It feels like my aunts house and Paige and I are cousins.

After breakfast, Paige and I go up into her room to get ready. She showers first while I clean up and then I shower.

I scrub myself clean and shave my legs before washing my hair. Together, we dry and style our hair and then change into clothes. I choose an old t-shirt and jeans with shorts and she chooses a tank top and ripped jeans. After some nagging from her mom, we take the car and head over to the gas station.

It's September and so while the weather is still hot, a nice breeze accompanies it. School has started but the weekend is always spent with everyone drinking up the dying days of summer. Soon it'll be full on tests and cold weather and nobody's ready for that.

After stocking up on chips, candies, and sodas, Paige drives us to the mall where we chill in the parking lot with our snacks.

"I'm getting a little scared," she admits during a brief silence between conversations. "Of what?" I ask, tearing an airhead from my teeth.

"The killer. Like his name sounds retarded but then you look at his victims..." She trails off, clearing thinking about it. Images start to creep into my mind too but I shake my head as if clearing the thoughts.

"Yeah but like... we're seventeen, about to be eighteen. We follow the rules and curfew and we'll be at school anyway. I mean, this guys MO seems to be one person at a time. It's not like we're walking around by ourselves. What is there to be scared about as long as we're following the rules."

Paige ponders my words, slowly nodding as she stares off into space. Then she blinks and nods more quickly. "You're right," she says, turning to me. I grin at her and toss a sour patch kid at her head.

"I usually am"

♡

We've walked through all of our favorite stores and gotten pretzels at the best cart. Now we're walking back towards the enterence to leave so we can get snowcones down the street.

This place is crowded and I don't see where I'm going until I smack (hard) into someone's chest. A hand wraps around my arm, holding me steady.

"Are you alright?"

I look up and meet the darkest green eyes I've ever seen. My stomach sinks when I realize it's a man. He's way out of my age group, unfortunately for me.

"Yeah, sorry sir"

"Molly!" Paige calls. He let's go and I follow Paige as I walk. But when I turn to look back at him, I find he's staring right at me. Blushing furiously, I turn my head and follow Paige out the door.

"Who was that?" She asks as we walk to her car in the parking lot. "No idea. Probably some husband waiting for his wife to get out of a store." I reply, thinking back to our encounter. "Hm," Paige hums. "I thought it was interesting how he looked at you"

You and me both.

♡

We spent the day driving around town. Getting snowcones and then going to the park or simply singing in the car. We got home an hour before curfew and filed through our bedtime routine. We usually stay up and play video games or binge movies but I had a feeling we were calling it an early night after the exhaustion of the day.

I'm Brushing my wet hair in the bathroom when the door bangs open and Paige bursts through. I turn to her with a confused expression. But it drops quickly when I see the fear on her face.

"What?" I ask, setting the brush down. She says nothing but instead stretches out her hand and hands me a piece of cardstock paper. I glance at her before reading the paper.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Words cannot express
How I'm feeling for you
So keep quiet
don't tell on me
Because I do not want
any trouble you see
I love your eyes
And I like your polite
So keep quiet
Or I'll come for you
In the middle of the night

I look up at her, sharing the same expression. "Paige," is all I can gasp out. She stares at me with wide eyes. So I swallow the lump in my throat and crumple the poem.

"It was probably just a joke from boys at school" I reason. Paige only shakes her head slowly. Her mouth opens before shutting again.

"It's fine. Just a prank," I shrug, trying to seem calm. I walk over and rub her arms, trying to calm her down too. Slowly, she regains perspective again. "Right," she agrees.

But that night we stay up. We watch movies and huddle close. Thankfully, near two in the morning, we fall asleep together.