before us

chapter 5

I was so hesitant in sneaking out but I went for my gut anyway. I was not going to miss out on this party.
It was 10:30PM, My dad went to the bar downtown to get some drinks with his corporate buddies and my mom was in the shower. I had it all planned out, prepared myself, and waited for the perfect moment. Then, it came—right in front of me, no parents around. So, I made my move.

I pulled the old pillow trick by stuffing them under my bed sheets, all lined down for a more realistic look. I walked downstairs towards the door. Once my hand was on the door knob my conscious was telling me to pull away, but the mischievous one was telling me to go have fun, so I chose fun.
I slipped out, gently closing the door behind me to keep it silent, then grabbed my bike from the driveway and rode off into the night, feeling the sense of freedom as  my hair flew up from the speed,  i smiled the whole ride, imagining myself as a princess who'd been locked in a castle for years and was finally free.

I finally arrived at Jules' neighbourhood, my knuckles felt sticky from knocking on her door. I felt curious in wanting to take a sniff and it was no other than alcohol. Vodka to be specific. Suddenly the door opens, and it's Jules dressed in lace flare top, with an outline of her bra covering her breast from the see-through material. From the bottom she wore dark washed blue low waisted skinny jeans that I had gifted her from my closet.

"Your..you're here?" Her expression comes close to being more confused than excited, whilst holding a can of coke in her hand matching her red oval nails, i hugged her from around her waist tightly.

"There was no family emergency," I say, my voice muffled. I pull back. "Give me that." I grab her can of Coke and take a sip—who knew the outside air could dry out your mouth so fast?

"Thank you." I handed the can back to her. Still in shock, her eyes dropped to my black dress. "I would so do you right now—can I borrow that dress?"

I was wearing a strapless black dress, paired with an oversized faux leather jacket and my below knee boots.

"You look smoking, and you know my closet is always yours," I say. We both squeal and hug again before she pulls me inside. This is the first time in three years I've actually stepped into her home. I've been here plenty, but always outside, picking her up from work or school.

I walked in and noticed that her entire house had changed. The kitchen lights flicked from the left of me, The floors were so sticky from under my boots. Everything wasn't so clean and suburban anymore, her luxury items were gone, for example her mom's $8,000 french vase and $35,000 paintings that she kept around the house. The flat screen tv looked like it's been punched leaving a black purplish mark on the side. The kitchen surface had root beer and left over omelette on the frying pan where I could see flies flying around it, with so many plates in the sink. From my right side it was dark apart from the tv being on, her mom was on the sofa sleeping, and a guy who i assumed was Jules step father who she described perfectly to me a long time ago was sat on the the other coach slouched with his legs on the table drinking his beer.

He looked a mess, his beard was dirty  followed by leftover omelette sitting on the strand of his hair, he wore a chequered red overshirt with a white stained vest and blue jeans that weren't so pretty, he had long light brown hair tied at the back. I looked around and could feel a stare from him, I pulled my dress down even as if it was going to get any longer than that.

Jules closes the door and I can feel the heat of the room, she walks over and peeps how uncomfortable I was feeling from the pulling of my dress.

"Stop creeping on my friends, Frank" she says, he scoffs and looks back at the television resuming 'Hoarders'.

"Come on," she says, and I follow her upstairs to her bedroom. With every step, it feels like I'm walking toward doom. The lights flicker as we reach the top, and that's when I see it—a red stain on the wall, like blood, and tiny shards of glass scattered on the carpet. Her once-pretty flowered wallpaper is torn, peeling from the walls. Everything looks different now, like the place had been through a storm.